Trade Development Authority of Pakistan organized a seminar at Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Trade Normalization with India. It was the first of the series of ten Seminars being arranged by TDAP in different cities to educate the business community about the challenges and opportunities resulting from the new trade regime between India and Pakistan.
Manzoor Ahmad, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to WTO gave an overview of the trade normalization process between India and Pakistan. He was of the opinion that smaller countries can also gain advantage by developing trade relations with bigger economies. He cited the example of Turkey and Mexico which gained tremendously after enhancing their trade relations with EU and US respectively. He was hopeful that the agreements on mutual recognition and customs cooperation being signed between India and Pakistan would help in removing the non tariff barrier being imposed by the Indian Government. Javed Akhtar Bhatti, President, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry expressed his apprehensions whether Pakistan was geared enough to benefit from trade normalization with India in the wake of power shortage and weak regulatory structures within the country. He however, agreed with the significance of regional trade in economic development of a country.
