Harvest Tradings CEO Ahmad Jawad and business experts have said that trade with India in agri products without subsidy would not be beneficial for Pakistan in any aspect.
Jawad said on Friday that Pakistan agriculture sector would face real difficulties in opening of trade while India will deprive Pakistan of water by 2020.
He said the Pakistan industry was affected after opening of free trade with China and the same situation may be faced at the start of trade with India.
Harvest Tradings CEO said Indian PM Manmohan Singh already had announced that there could be no “business as usual” with Pakistan after a clash last week, but we believe in free trade and frequent interactions that is the future of the two countries, with a volume of $2.5 billion and which is expected to reach $8 billion in the next two years.
Jawad said Pakistani agriculturists are not against trade with India but they expect to be protected against the highly subsidised agricultural products of India On average, each agriculture hectare gets a subsidy of $300 per year in India. “This works out to be around Rs 11,900 per acre of subsidy.
Pakistan can only benefit and target the huge retail market in India if subsidies are provided to the farmers and also substitution of imports with cheaper imports from India. The potential import items include tea, spices, auto parts, consumer and light engineering goods, tyres and transport equipment, entertainment, healthcare, information technology, and pharmaceuticals. The resultant potential savings would be up to $1 billion for Pakistan and benefit the local consumer, who will have access to more choices and cheaper products, Jawad added. He said Pakistan must urge India to remove barriers and provide a level playing field to Pakistani exporters.
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