Good Morning Excellencies, Ladies and Gentleman,

  1. I would first like to thank Ambassador Paparizov for successfully conducting our TPR; his command over several languages created a cordial atmosphere and helped to ensure that the exercise was engaging and constructive. I would also like to warmly thank our discussant, Ambassador Al-Otaibi for all his hard work which was evident in his insightful and detailed comments.
  2. We are happy to have witnessed the keen interest displayed by the members in our TPR. On Tuesday, twenty-four delegations made interventions, which we consider a positive sign. Encouragement, positive engagement and constructive feedback ensures that we remain on track with fulfilling our commitments as we move ahead into the next phase of developing our trade and economy.
  3. As I mentioned in my opening statement on Tuesday, Pakistan views this TPR as both, a catalyst for further reform and a valuable opportunity to listen to, and to learn from other Members.
  4. We therefore welcome the comments, suggestions and further questions that we have received from Members as well as the spirit in which they were presented. During the course of this meeting, we may not be able to respond to all the questions that we received on Tuesday or in their entirety. We hope that the efforts we have made in responding to your written questions will be valuable. However, I do intend to touch upon key themes that we witnessed on Tuesday and shall respond in writing in further detail.
  5. Mr. Chairman, Pakistan finds itself at crossroads today-We have to ensure sustainable development of the economy, provide decent employment opportunities to our people while a considerable portion of our resources is increasingly devoted to address security concerns.
  6. Therefore, this TPR has also presented us the opportunity to display how our WTO commitments are taking shape in the backdrop of political and human realities as well as practical governance of members. While these challenges have made it difficult to always implement our commitments, we have endeavored to balance public policies geared towards strengthening of our domestic regime as well as the multilateral trading system.
  7. I shall now respond to some of the concerns raised by the Members on Tuesday.
  8. On the matter of transparency & predictability in taxation and tariffs- the SRO issue- the Government of Pakistan constituted a High Powered Committee in December, 2013, headed by the Finance Minister, comprising representatives of different ministries, divisions and trade bodies across the country. The task of this Committee was to review the concessionary regime in Income Tax, Sales Tax and Customs (SROs).
  9. On the basis of recommendations of this Committee, a vast number of concessions and exemptions amounting to over 1.4 billion US dollars have been eliminated in the national Budget for the financial year 2014-15. To illustrate, the discriminatory concessions to inputs of 98 industries were withdrawn. Similarly, discriminatory exemptions from customs duty given to 129 items and 17 sectors were also abolished. The Government is fully committed to phasing out the remaining concessions over a period of three years i.e. by June, 2017.
  10. Mr.Chairman, among other legislative and oversight measures that the Government has undertaken on transparency and elimination of corrupt practices from the country, the National Accountability Bureau has most recently embarked upon a nation-wide anti-corruption awareness campaign. This campaign includes: public awareness workshops, media releases, whistle-blowing incentives and seminars on best practices & good governance.
  11. Furthermore the Bureau, in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan and the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan, has initiated a background checking service for investors and entities desiring to undertake business activity in the country. These initiatives are reflective of the zero tolerance policy of the present Government against corruption.
  12. Another area where members showed concern was the element of transparency and investment. By way of illustration, the Telecom sector in Pakistan is open and encourages foreign investment with no restriction on the extent of foreign investment with a straightforward licensing regime. In April 2014, the Government held an auction of the spectrum required to roll out 3G and 4G services.
  1. Successful bids were made by local and foreign operators, resulting in revenues of $1.2 billion US Dollars. Pakistan was recognized by the GSM Association for its transparency and effort in this endeavor and bestowed the prestigious “Government Mobile Excellence Awards,” on Pakistan.
  2. Furthermore, to ensure an open, competitive and transparent telecom regime, Pakistan has withdrawn the International Clearing House regime and fully deregulated international incoming traffic rates. As another key effort towards reform in this area, Pakistan is also actively engaged in stakeholder consultations on the ITA.
  1. Mr. Chairman, on the issue of “Pharmaceutical Pricing,” the membership will be pleased to note that on the 5th of March, 2015, the Government of Pakistan has announced a new "Drug Pricing Policy-2015” which provides for a transparent mechanism for fixation and price adjustment of pharmaceutical products. It substantially reduces the discretion of functionaries and facilitates the industry by ensuring predictability for future business planning. The main pillars of the new policy are:
  2. Fixation of prices for new chemical entities, which are mostly imported on the basis of reference prices, particularly in the neighboring countries.

And

  1. Linking annual price increase of medicines with Consumer Price Index.
  1. On the energy-challenge faced by investors, the Government is actively pursuing alternative sources of energy generation to overcome the energy crisis. Moreover, we would like to inform the members that the customs duty on products having dedicated use of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and geo-thermal is zero percent.
  2. I would also like to apprise the members of some recent positive developments pertaining to enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. IP Tribunals for expeditious disposal of IP related litigation have been notified by the Federal Government initially for 3 major cities namely, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad which would practically cover the major trading hubs in Pakistan. Moreover, dedicated Directorates have been established in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Federal Board of Revenue, in order to deal effectively with IPR violations.
  3. The Government of Pakistan is also committed to improve the business environment in the country and the action plan that has been undertaken in this regard includes:
  1. The launch of the “virtual one-stop-shop” (VOSS) for multiple business registrations with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue, the Board of investment, as well as Social security institutions
  2. A complete roll out of “Web based one customs” system (WEBOC) at all customs stations in the country for risk-based, automated customs clearances of cargo
  3. The introduction of the concept of Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs)
  4. Re-engineering of business processes for domestic taxation

And

  1. Legislation for secured financial transactions
  1. Mr. Chairman, some Members expressed their concerns on the import ban on live animals and bovine meat products from BSE-infected countries. The ban was imposed on various categories of livestock products in order to protect the historically BSE-free status of Pakistan and to ensure the bio-safety of exports of livestock by-products to other countries. The prohibitions imposed in the Import Policy Order were across the board and not country-specific.
  2. In this regard, we would like to inform the members we have recently removed the ban on import of live animals from “Negligible Risk Countries” subject to certain conditions. This decision was taken on the basis of an import risk analysis. Entry and exposure risk along with absence of country-wide diagnostic capability at the laboratory and field levels restrains Pakistan from importing BSE-risk animals from countries not having “negligible risk” status.
  3. Nevertheless, we have initiated a scientific evidence-based, consultative process with relevant stake holders in order to come up with a viable solution to this issue as well. Furthermore, it is also worth noting that there is no ban on feed ingredients of vegetable, poultry, mineral and sea-sources.
  4. We have also noted concerns raised by some members regarding the gap between our bound and applied tariffs. Mr. Chairman, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that despite being a lower-middle income developing country, we have still managed to bind 98% of our tariff lines; out of these more than 800 tariff lines were bound at applied levels and other than a few sensitive sectors, we have rarely resorted to imposing tariffs at the bound rates.
  5. However, this is as good an opportunity as any to reiterate that for Pakistan the Doha round of negotiations on market access is the only platform capable of meaningfully addressing the issue of binding overhang prevalent in international trade.
  6. Before I conclude Mr.Chairman, we have some more positive news; Only yesterday, Moody's Investors Service has revised the outlook on Pakistan's foreign currency government bond rating from stable to positive; The rating is affirmed at Caa1.
  7. Mr. Chairman, to conclude, this has been a very interesting and engrossing two days for me and my delegation. I thank all the Members once again for their interest in our trade and economic policies. I would also like to thank you- Ambassador Paparizov, Ambassador Al-Otaibi, Ambassdor Shah as well members of the Secretariat, in particular, Mr. Usman Ali Khilji, Mr. Peter Pederson, Mr.Arne Klau and Mr.Wily Alfaro.

Thank you

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