The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Thursday expressed concerns over the rising trade deficit of the country which has risen by 5.5% to $16.9 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The ICCI called upon the government to focus on promoting intraregional trade as there is a huge potential for Pakistan to promote exports with regional countries.
According to a press release, ICCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh said that many regional economic blocks were reaping rich benefits by promoting intraregional trade but South Asia was the least integrated region as its intraregional trade was just 5% of its total trade as compared with 58% in EU, 52% in NAFTA and 26% in ASEAN.
Atif Ikram said if tariff and non-tariff barriers were removed, South Asia could witness significant jump in regional trade.
He identified complex customs procedures & quality standard regulations, inefficient transport arrangements, institutional incapacities, different kinds of standardisation and certification processes, unhealthy duty structure, packaging/labeling requirements, long negative lists and political factors as the major non-tariff barriers in South Asian countries that need to be urgently redressed to pave way for enhanced regional trade.
The ICCI president said intraregional trade was beneficial for all regional countries as it was more price-competitive compared to importing from other countries. He urged that Pakistan should work with South Asian countries to harmonise and regulate customs procedures and remove all NTBs.
He said removal of NTBs and other infrastructure related issues deterring regional trade would be a win-win situation for all regional countries as it would enhance the welfare and prosperity of their producers and consumers.
The ICCI said South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement was signed to facilitate free trade among South Asian countries, but its weak enforcement has deprived the people of this region from availability of employment, income opportunities and cheap products.
He was of the view that promoting intraregional trade would further contribute in expanding exports and increasing regional growth. All these efforts would also strengthen global integration of the South Asian countries and lead to their better economic growth.
He stressed that all possible efforts should be made to realise untapped trade potential of this region.
