Tahir Hasnain, from WWG, Islamabad in his presentation Civil Society's Views/Concerns About Pakistan's Position in WTO – Ministerial Conference, Hong Kong stressed the importance of tariffs in encouraging domestic industrial development. Whereas industrialized nations have used this tool for a long time to build their industries, however, they do not give breathing space to developing members of the WTO and rather demand further tariff cuts in the negotiations for Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA). Another instance of double standards exhibited by the industrialized countries is in the field of services liberalization. At the December 2005 WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, industrialized countries, particularly the United States, were expected to push for minimum commitments of other WTO members in opening up their services sectors, such as banking, telecommunication, and transport. However, in the negotiations of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), these countries do not allow service providers from developing countries to have access to their markets Therefore a major advantage the South has, that is of lower labor costs, can therefore not be utilized to their advantage in the North. A group of WTO members have initiated demands for a ‘GATS visa', which would allow the entry of unskilled service providers in Northern labor markets.
Asad Hayauddin, Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, in his presentation Pakistan's Position in the WTO Ministerial Conference clarified that the Government of Pakistan strongly supports the proposed GATS visa. However, he does not fear benchmarking either – Pakistan's services sector has opened up to a high degree. Hayauddin pointed loopholes regarding the WTO negotiations. He emphasized the need for a solid study of the potential impact of the NAMA negotiations on employment and revenues. He insisted that the pace of negotiations should not be slowed down.
The session was chaired by A. A. Peerzada, from the PPPP in Sukkur. Mubarak Zeb Khan from the daily Dawn and Muhammad Saeed working with the World Trade Review were discussants for the presentations. Saeed emphasized the challenge WTO commitments posed for Pakistan's national policies. For instance even if prospects for market access improved, Pakistan's sugar surplus could not contribute towards an increase in Pakistan's exports if international requirements for storage and hygiene were not met. Similarly, he questioned whether Pakistan would really benefit from the proposed GATS visa by successfully accessing the labor markets of the industrialized countries. He explained that if no one has confidence in local degrees within Pakistan, how could one assume foreign employers would rely on local graduates and hire Pakistani service providers. Zeb anticipated that the Hong Kong ministerial meeting would not benefit the Pakistani population as long as the government does not take its citizens into confidence about its negotiation stance in the WTO.
The discussion session that followed the panelists' contribution illustrated the lack of transparency in Pakistan's negotiation stance. The audience questioned Pakistan's decision to join the Cairns Group. The Cairns Group comprises of major food exporters from both developed and developing nations, which seek the removal of access barriers and reductions in subsidies affecting agricultural trade. Not being a major food exporter, Pakistan chose to become a member during the recent visit of the Australian Prime Minister to Pakistan. A public debate on this issue has not taken place, and citizens remain locked out once again.
Reported by Karin Astrid Siegmann
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