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Pakistan : Roll Over Of Unutilised Quota Denied |
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2003-8-15
United States has advised Pakistan to take steps for full quota
utilization next year and has denied rolling over last year''s unutilized textile quota of Pakistan''s exports to its market.
US assistant secretary of state on commerce William H. Lash III said "Use it or lose it," after signing an agreement on Strategic Objectives Agreement with finance minister Shaukat Aziz.
Under the agreement, the US would provide $53 million to Pakistan in grant over the next five years to support economic development objectives described under the Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
Pakistan has been asking the US to roll over its last year''s unutilized textile quota to the next year and conversion of one category products to the other to utilize its full textile quota. He, however, explained that Pakistan could not fully utilize its quota in two categories out of a total of 12 textile categories which were exported to the US market by Pakistani exporters.
Lash said Pakistan was not utilizing all textile quota allocated to it
by the US despite the fact that Pakistan was the only country that
enjoyed such a trade concession although there was a lot of room for Pakistan to improve. He said Pakistan should now diversify its capacity of exports to ensure a better market share to compete other textile exporters in the post-2005 period.
Responding to a question on free trade agreement (FTA) with Pakistan, the US assistant secretary of state said the signing of trade and investment facilitation agreement (TIFA) in itself was a guarantee and major step towards two-way trade and the two sides have to resolve a number of issues to reach the FTA stage.
Talking about the $53 million grant agreement, Mr. Lash said the US thought it was not a grant but an investment in Pakistan because the two countries were not just friends but partners in progress.
He said that besides military assistance and supply of aircraft to
Pakistan in the past, the Bush administration has a social sector
commitment in Pakistan and wanted to see improvement in the condition of poor Pakistanis.
He said Pakistan should enhance social sector spending and investment which was necessary for job creation and poverty reduction.
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