Mashallah. God bless the improving trade ties between India and Pakistan. More trade, less chance of war. :jhanda:
Please ignore the trade deficit for the time being - it will be all fine in the long run, Inshallah.
Khaleej Times Online - Pakistan to import 438 new items from India
Pakistan to import 438 new items from India
SLAMABAD - India may earn over $4 billion more annually by virtue of Pakistan government’s latest decision to include in the positive list 438 new importable items from New Delhi, officials said.
[FONT=‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’]The expansion in the tradable list came in the back drop of the composite dialogue launched in 2004.
Commerce and Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said Pakistan was in the process of “gradually” liberalising bilateral trade with India. “Composite dialogue process, especially on economic and commercial cooperation has been instrumental in addressing bilateral issues,” he added.
Official figures showed that Pakistan’s tradable list with India was 591 items in 1997 but has been enhanced to 1938 items in 2008. The government added 302 items in October 2007 and 136 items in July 2008.
This expansion has widened Pakistan’s trade deficit with India to $893 million in 2006-07 from $73.736 million in 1999-2000. With the substantial expansion in the tradable list, the deficit is likely to reach $1.5 billion in 2007-08, when the final figures are finalised. The figures for July-March 2007-08 showed Pakistan’s trade deficit with India at $1.095 billion.
Pakistan exported $200 million worth commodities to India in July-March period of 2007-08 while imported goods value reached $1295 million during the period under review.
Pakistan’s exports to India stagnated between $200 million to $400 million despite the fact that New Delhi has granted MFN status to Islamabad.
A diplomatic source said: “India is satisfied with the constant expansion in the tradable items list. Whatever they want they get from Islamabad.”
Indian side never stressed for the MFN as they were aware of the fact that the expansion in the positive list would serve their interest. “MFN status has become just a political issue which will lose its importance with the passage of time as Pakistan would keep on expanding the positive list to meet their demand,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a significant shift of policy, Pakistan has also unilaterally announced in the trade policy to encourage Indian investment in manufacturing of CNG buses. The government has already withdrawn the 15 per cent duty on the import of CNG buses in the budget 2008-09.
An official in the board of investment said that there is no law in the country which barred Indian investment in Pakistan. Pakistan has a liberal investment policy, but official said generally both countries discouraged bilateral investments.
It is not just for CNG buses Pakistan government is also signalling its readiness to embrace Indian investment in other sectors.
The government has invited at least three Indian companies - Tata, Reliance and Essar - to a meeting of potential investors in the power sector to discuss the development of the Thar Coal Power Project.