Taiwan praises Pakistan on its economic performance and encourages more liberalization
Speaking at the WTO trade policy review (TPR) of Pakistan
on 16 January, 2008, Ambassador Yi-Fu LIN, Taiwan’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, praised Pakistan on its recent economic performance, and described it as an important emerging market with huge potential.
After welcoming Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce, Mr. Shazada Alam Monnoo, and his delegation, Lin reviewed bilateral economic relations between Taiwan and Pakistan, saying that, “We have seen the amount of bilateral trade between us increase by nearly 20% a year on average over the last three years, and we expect this positive trend to continue. So we are delighted to learn that Pakistan’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in Asia, at a yearly average rate of more than 6% per annum over the last five fiscal years.”
Lin continued by emphasizing that, “Pakistan’s impressive economic performance is due mainly to its relatively open trade and investment regimes” However, he also noted that “While this general policy orientation is of course very welcome, there appears to be room for further improvements to be made in certain areas of the economy to remove some of the elements that are still having negative effects on trade and investment.”
“Firstly” he pointed out, “the very large gaps between applied and bound rates afford Pakistan ample opportunity to raise the applied rates, an option that it has used recently. For traders, this will certainly have the negative effect of reducing predictability, therefore we would preferably like to see it modified. Secondly, we notice that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan rose significantly over the review period, and yet the latest rankings on FDI performance and potential show Pakistan still at below the UNCTAD average. Added to which, although FDI can usually expect to receive a boost from the privatization of state-owned enterprises, Pakistan’s programme of privatization seems to have slipped behind schedule for various reasons. So, bolder steps may need to be taken to reduce the still substantial participation of state-owned enterprises in the economy.”
“Nevertheless,” Lin continued, “we are greatly encouraged to have learnt that Pakistan attaches great importance to an open, rules-based, multilateral trading system. During recent plurilateral services meetings, Pakistan has been one of the few Members clearly signalling its intention to improve market access commitments in several key sectors, like financial and telecommunications services - a good example that others might be encouraged to follow.”
In conclusion, Lin stressed that “Taiwan not only looks forward to strengthening its existing economic and trade ties with Pakistan, but also hopes that Pakistan continues to show its determination by helping to provide the stimulus that is needed now to get the DDA talks moving forward”.
