US not willing to sign FTA: adviser

Friday, January 08, 2010
By our correspondent

LAHORE: The United States is not willing to sign a free trade agreement with Pakistan and the country will have to content itself with facilities to be granted under the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Textile Mirza Ikhtiar Baig stated this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

LCCI President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Brunei Darussalam High Commissioner Colonel (R) Abdul Jalil Ahmad and Adviser on Investment to Gilgit-Baltistan Governor Mian Shafqat Ali also spoke on the occasion.

Announcing a package for Gilgit-Baltistan women, Baig said a power and gas load-management plan had already been decided by the federal cabinet and if it had not yet been implemented, trade associations and the business community should press the departments concerned for its implementation.

He said threadbare discussions were on to tackle issues like shortage of gas for the textile sector and a comprehensive policy would be announced on January 9. The policy would be unbiased and all industrial sectors would get equal benefit of it and their viability would be protected, he added.

He said the federal cabinet decided that the Sui Southern Gas Company should supply 100 million cubic feet per day of gas to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines but unfortunately the decision had not yet been implemented.

The adviser said all women of Gilgit-Baltistan, who want to get training in certain textile-related sectors, would not only be imparted training but would also be given stipend with job guarantee on completion of their training.