Pakistani and Indian business leaders on Thursday said there were big opportunities to boost direct trade between them after the two agreed to work harder at opening up their markets. This informal commerce shows “the tremendous potential for bilateral trade”, said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Secretary General Rajiv Kumar. Cross-border commerce currently amounts to less than one percent of each country’s global activity, but the two sides harbour hopes of increased trade in areas such as engineering and textiles.
“There is a large market to be opened up,” said Rajan Bharti Mittal, managing director of India’s Bharti Enterprises, parent of the country’s largest mobile phone operator. The comments came as India’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma announced he would lead a trade delegation to Islamabad next February at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim. The two agreed in New Delhi late on Wednesday to more than double trade within three years to $6 billion, set up a second trade border check post and make it easier for Indians and Pakistanis to get business visas. Both governments “are committed to normalising trade relations”, said Fahim, whose five-day visit at the head of a large business delegation is the first by a commerce minister to India in 35 years.