ISLAMABAD: The federal government has formed a committee headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to address the concerns of exporters regarding lack of coordination with Russian Customs authorities.
The government has also proposed the Russian Federation to ink Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Pakistan Customs, however, Russian Customs decided to respond after consultation with all stakeholders of their side, including customs union partners, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Moreover, the Ministry of Finance and Commerce had also moved a proposal for the establishment of a joint business council in order to enhance bilateral trade with Russia.
It is worth mentioning that volume of Pak-Russia bilateral trade in textile, oil, gas, energy, and direct investment sectors is around $542 million annually which will be enhanced to $4 billion by December 2017.
Economists proposed that Pakistan must utilise business expertise of Russia to increase quality exports to Central Asian and Scandinavian countries. “To enhance bilateral relations, event planning companies like Pegasus and SA Consultants must hold joint cultural events regularly,” they stressed.
