By K K Modi
The South Asian region has in the last few years shown exemplary growth. And I may just add that this strong growth has largely been the result of the good economic performance of both India and Pakistan.

With an average annual growth of 8.8% during the last five years, India today is amongst the world's fastest growing economies. Pakistan too has shown an impressive performance with an average growth of 7% over the last few years. This performance should give the people of our two nations a reason to become more confident, for growth is the best antidote to poverty.

Strong growth is the best anti-poverty programme which any government or nation can have. It is now up to all of us to ensure that this phase of high growth is maintained and we are able to address the important socio-economic problems that we still face in our respective countries.

The world today is going through a turbulent phase. Many of you present here are aware of the sub-prime crisis that was triggered in the US but whose tremors were felt world over. We also face an unprecedented situation on the oil price front. The situation in the case of agri-commodity prices is just as difficult.

I would like to mention that these developments not only have the potential to limit our growth but can actually wipe out the gains that India and Pakistan have made and the progress that we have seen over the last so many years in the realm of poverty reduction and economic growth.

Given the present state of affairs, we are seeing that countries in different parts of the world are engaging even more deeply with their neighbours. Greater economic engagement in the region is seen as a means towards insulating their growth to a great extent from the global disruptions of the kind we are seeing today.

I therefore take this opportunity to re-emphasize the importance of building economic bridges between India and Pakistan. While we have seen progress over the last few years in terms of our economic engagement, there is still a long way to go. There are avenues aplenty for us to come together and work in unison in different fields. Trade, industry, energy and infrastructure are just some of the areas that come to mind readily.

FICCI - India's apex industry organization - has always advocated the imperative need to bring India and Pakistan closer in the realm of trade and industry. We at FICCI have a dedicated team of professionals who exclusively focus on strengthening economic relations between India and Pakistan.

FICCI has been working closely with Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry for enhancing the bilateral economic cooperation. We have jointly formed India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1999 and the next meeting of this body is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in August this year.

FICCI and FPCCI also interact under the umbrella of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and have undertaken several confidence building measures between the business communities of India and Pakistan.

There has been massive surge in the bilateral trade between India and Pakistan. In 2007-2008, the total bilateral trade touched a high of US$ 2 billion. Not only our exports to Pakistan but also imports from Pakistan rose significantly. The major items of imports from Pakistan included cement, cotton yarn and textiles, sports goods, leather products, surgical instruments, fresh vegetables and fruits, etc.

Moreover, India and Pakistan can greatly benefit from trading in agriculture and food items like fresh meat, wheat, spices, tea and other edibles to meet the production shortfalls at competitive prices.

From FICCI we have suggested both the Governments and I would like to reiterate here again, a six points agenda for intensifying economic engagement between India and Pakistan.

Opening up of land routes for trade especially Wagha route. As we are seeing a surge in exports as well as imports of items for trade between India and Pakistan. Having a bilateral agreement on regular cargo movement with warehousing and other infrastructural facilities on both sides would greatly facilitate the trade between the two countries

Liberalised visa regime between the two countries by issuance of non-police reporting and long term multiple entry business visa.

Investment cooperation and joint ventures in selective areas agreed between the two countries. Currently, we do not have investment promotion and protection agreement between the two countries.

Have a small negative list of trade between India and Pakistan instead of positive list approach. This would greatly facilitate the trade and improve the business environment between the two countries. It is heartening to note that in the recent past, more than 300 items were added to the list of 775 items which can be exported from India to Pakistan.
Identification and removal of the trade irritants including the tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two countries. We have requested our counterparts in Pakistan to immediately make us aware of any NTBs, they encounter so that we can take up with our Governments to have it removed. Unfortunately, they have not been able to give us any concrete examples of the same.

Promoting more trade fair and exhibitions across each other's Countries to spread greater awareness about each other's competencies and business capabilities. In this regard, FICCI had organized Made in Pakistan Exhibition in March, 2004 which drew more than 40,000 Indian visitors per day. Similarly FICCI would like to organize Made in India Exhibition in Pakistan with the support of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry which would be a giant leap forward in our bilateral trade and result in fructifying large number of business deals. We have already approached our Ministry of Commerce in this regard and request your Ministry of Commerce to support us in this endeavor.

Now is the right time to deepen our economic engagement by working on the above agendas by both the Governments along with the private sector to create a win-win situation.

(K K Modi is past President Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Speech made at a meeting with Mr Salman Faruqui, Deputy Chairman, Pakistan Planning Commission in Delhi)