ISLAMABAD – The US has decided to offer unilateral trade concessions to flood-affected people in Pakistan from the next US fiscal year on the pattern of trade concessions offered to the earthquake-hit Caribbean state of Haiti. An official source said after the devastating floods in August, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim had written letters to US Trade Representative and ambassador of European Union in September, requesting unilateral trade concessions to overcome the economic crisis. In January, Pakistan again requested Senior Adviser to US President on Economy David Lipton for trade concessions.
The US administration, he said, had shown its willingness to consider unilateral trade preferences programme for Pakistan, as the US Trade Policy agenda for 2011 presented to the US Congress on March 1 provided a roadmap in this regard. The policy document provided US resolve to continue its support for economic opportunities through trade for countries that have been particularly ravaged by disaster or violence. The two countries specified in the report for such efforts are Haiti and Pakistan. The policy document said the US would help Pakistanis recover from last year’s devastating floods by seeking to build economic prosperity through trade.
