Govt spares flour subsidy

LAHORE - The government has decided not to participate in the seventh session of Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) being held in Afghanistan at Kabul from July 26 to 27, sources told TheNation here Tuesday.

The decision was taken in the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting here with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the chair following President Hamid Karzai’s allegations that Pakistan army and the intelligence agencies were responsible for the recent bomb blast in Kabul.

The Pakistani delegation was scheduled to leave for Kabul on July 25 led by minister for finance to participate in the Pak-Afghan joint commission.

They said the bilateral trade in the formal sector between Pakistan and Afghanistan witnessed a decline of almost 400 million dollars in 2006-07 as the Pakistani manufacturers have been losing out to mainly Iranian and Indian competitors. However, Pakistan has targeted to increase its exports to Afghanistan to two billion dollars by 2010-11. Amongst Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan, rice, textiles and garments top the list.

They said that presently, most of the trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan takes place in the informal sector, where the volume of clandestine business (smuggling or re-routing of Afghan transit trade goods) between the two countries is estimated to be more than $ 10 billion.

They said that the formation JEC took place in 2002, making both the states possible to re-examine their trade ties and formulate plans to strengthen economic collaboration.

They said the Federation of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to form the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI). The scope of PACCI’s activities includes: exchange of information with regard to trade, economic cooperation and services between the two countries.