ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) on Monday urged India to remove all non-tariff barriers to help boost trade from the current level of $2.6 billion to $8 billion.
Supporting the decision of the Federal Cabinet regarding grant of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, IWCCI, President Farida Rashid said India should also remove all non-tariff barriers to ensure equal opportunities for Pakistan to help promote trade and mutual confidence.She was of the view that people perceive MFN as granting huge concessions to another country which is wrong; actually it means that both countries will not discriminate against each other.
“We should be able to buy and sell products from and to India as we can do with any other country of the world,” she added.Farida Rashid said that Indian goods will help mitigate inflation pressure while Pakistan’s industry would gain access to the large Indian market with a great customer base.MFN will reduce trade cost owing to economical transportation, availability of raw materials and machinery which will cut the cost of doing business in Pakistan resulting in improved competitiveness and productivity of our industry.If resilient local industry can survive a Free Trade Agreement with a major economic power like China, it definitely can compete with Indians after they are accorded with MFN status, she observed. – Brecorder
