Tags:
Journalism of Courage
At a time when India and Pakistan have resumed trade normalisation talks, an Icrier survey has revealed that awareness of trade policies is much lower in Pakistan than in India and that Pakistani traders find it difficult to meet standards laid down by Indian authorities on agricultural products and perceive that they have low market access to the Indian market.
These are the findings of a Trade Perception Survey done by Delhi-based think tank Icrier undertaken to gather the perception of stakeholders engaged in India-Pakistan trade on the extent of impediments faced by them in realising the trade potential. The analysis is based on information collected on six indicators — awareness of trade policy, ease of meeting standards, market access, business facilitation, customs and documentation, and infrastructure at ports.
“Interestingly, neither country perceived country labels to have any negative impact on trade flows. However, the perception about the negative impact of political events on trade was to some extent perceived by Indian respondents but not by Pakistani traders,” said the survey.
The survey comes a days after the trade ministers of India and Pakistan agreed on a non-discriminatory market access programme in place of the MFN regime, besides opening up Wagah-Attari border round the clock.
