Pakistan passes special order to allow barter trade with Iran, Afghanistan, Russia

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KARACHI: Pakistan has officially notified a "Business-to-Business (B2B) Barter Trade Mechanism" for trade in goods with Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, the ministry of commerce said on Friday, allowing state-owned enterprises and private sector entities to engage both in the import and export of goods.

Importers and exporters on the Federal Board of Revenue's active taxpayers list and subscribed to the Pakistan Single Window (FEW) System would be eligible for barter trade.

"Application for authorization of import and export of goods under the B2B barter trade facility shall be submitted online by the trader or their authorized agent through the online system to the regulatory collector," the notification said.

The trade of goods under a B2B Barter Trade arrangement will be allowed on the principle of "import followed by export" and export would meet the value of imported goods.

The South Asian nation has identified some 26 goods that can be exported to Afghanistan, Iran and Russia, including milk, cream, eggs and cereal, meat and fish products, fruits and vegetables, rice, salt, pharmaceutical products, finished leather and leather apparel, footwear, steel and sports goods.

The government has notified the products to be imported from Afghanistan, which include fruits and nuts, vegetables and pulses, spices, minerals and metals, coal and its products, raw rubber items, raw hides and skins, cotton, and iron and steel.

From Iran, Pakistani importers are allowed to import fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices, minerals and metals, coal and related products, petroleum crude oil, LNG and LPG, chemical products, fertilizers, article of plastics and rubber, raw hides and skins, raw wool and articles of iron and steel.

From Russia, Pakistani traders will be allowed to import pulses, wheat, coal and related products, petroleum oils including crude, LNG and LPG, fertilizers, tanning and dying extracts, articles of plastic and rubber, minerals and metals, chemicals products, articles of iron and steel, and items of textile industrial machinery.

Reacting to the development, Pakistan's commerce ministry said in an official statement its top officials held several meetings with high-level delegations of various countries in this regard to make the barter trade system possible.

The statement noted it was "an ideal step" taken by the current administration to stabilize the country's economy.

"It will not only increase foreign reserves of the country but also increase the quantum of trade," it added.

The development was also applauded by the local business community.

The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said in a statement its years Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said of relentless policy advocacy initiatives for the barter trade with Russia, Iran and Afghanistan had borne fruit.

"We pitched barters trade, border markets and currency swap mechanisms very diligently in tens of top-level meetings with the concerned ministries and relevant governmental institutions over the past three-and-a-half years," FPCCI president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said.

He added the business community's repeated proposals and demands aimed at persuading the government to decisively move forward and enable, facilitate and operationalize the barter trade arrangement with three very important countries.

The FPCCI chief hoped the mechanism would help the economy amid prevailing gaps in Pakistan's import and export potential.

ISLAMABAD: China, Pakistan and Iran held their first trilateral meeting on counter-terrorism in Beijing on Wednesday, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.

The delegations held detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region.

"Based on the outcome of these consultations, they decided to institutionalize the Trilateral Consultations on counter terrorism and security for which further details will be worked out," the Pakistani FO said.

A statement by the Chinese foreign ministry said the three countries had "in-depth" exchanges on the regional counter-terrorism situation, and decided to hold the meeting on a regular basis.

Abdul Hameed, director general of counter terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led Pakistan's delegation while the Chinese delegation was headed by Bai Tian, director general of the Department of External Security Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry. The Iranian delegation was led by assistant to the Iranian foreign minister, Seyed Rasoul Mosavi.

The FO said Hameed and Mosavi also called on Assistant Foreign Minister of China Nong Rong.

Last month, Pakistan had also held trilateral talks with China and Afghanistan in Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to appoint a senior official to resolve issues related to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, whose construction has remained stalled for years, the petroleum ministry said on Wednesday.

The pipeline will link the energy-rich Central Asian country of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, and is expected to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas each year along a route stretching 1,800 km (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world's second-biggest gas field, to the Indian city of Fazilka near the Pakistan border.

The Afghan stretch of the pipeline will run from the northwestern border with Turkmenistan, south through the western city of Herat to Kandahar near the border with Pakistan.

"TAPI is a transformation agenda for the region, not just a pipeline," state minister for petroleum Dr Musadik Malik was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Pakistani ministry of petroleum after Malik held a meeting with a delegation from Turkmenistan led by State Minister and Chairman of Turkmengas, Maksat Babayev.

"Meeting agreed to appoint a high-level official from Pakistan to resolve open issues. Technical working group on TAPI will hold extensive meeting today," the statement added.

Work on the project has been stalled due to differences over price review and delivery points.

As per the original deal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India would have 15% share of gas, while Turkmenistan would get 85%. Under the existing gas sale-purchase agreement, the gas delivery point is the Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border, which Pakistan wants moved to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Wednesday it was time to tighten the "noose of law" against those who had masterminded attacks on military buildings last month, in what is being widely seen as a reference to former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Khan's arrest on corruption charges on May 9, which he says was at the behest of top generals in cahoots with the civilian government of PM Shehbaz Sharif — both deny involvement — led to violent nationwide protests, with rioters attacking an air base, military properties, including the army's headquarters, and burning a top general's home. Demonstrators also attacked government and private buildings and vehicles.

Since the protests, dozens of members of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and hundreds of his supporters have been arrested in what local and international rights bodies have widely called a state crackdown. The army and government have both publicly said the instigators and enactors of the violence would be punished and those who attacked army properties would be tried by military courts. Dozens of arrested suspects have since been handed over to the army for trials.

In a strongly-worded statement released on Wednesday after a meeting of top Pakistani military commanders, the army reiterated that it would punish those who had attacked its properties as well as go after the masterminds of the violence.

"While the legal trials of perpetrators and instigators have commenced, it is time that noose of law is also tightened around the planners and masterminds who mounted the hate ripened and politically driven rebellion against the state and state institutions to achieve their nefarious design of creating chaos in the country," the army's media wing, ISPR, said.

"Forum also resolved that endeavours by any quarter to create obstructions and stymie the conclusive defeat of ill design of inimical forces will be dealt with iron hands."

Responding for the first time to widespread accusations that the army was behind a crackdown against Khan, his party and its supporters and carrying out human rights violations, the army called this "fake news and propaganda" that it would defeat with the support of the Pakistani public:

"Unfounded and baseless allegations on Law Enforcement Agencies and Security Forces for custodial torture, human rights abuses and stifling of political activities are meant to mislead the people and malign Armed Forces in order to achieve trivial vested political interests."

The army reiterated that those who had damaged military properties would be brought to justice "speedily under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act which are the derivatives of the Constitution of Pakistan."

"In this regard, efforts to create distortions and attempts to take refuge behind imaginary and mirage Human Rights Violations to create smoke screen for hiding the ugly faces of all involved, are absolutely futile and do not stand the abundantly collected irrefutable evidences," ISPR said.

The military's statement comes as mention of Khan has blacked out on local television, following a directive last week by the national media regulator not to give airtime to "hate mongers, rioters, their facilitators and perpetrators." The directive did not name Khan.

Most newspapers, in which Khan was for years front page news, have also stopped covering him.

Since being ousted from the PM's office in a no-trust vote in April last year, Khan has launched an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military, which independent analysts say helped him rise and fall from power.

The military has ruled Pakistan directly or indirectly for most of its 75-year history but says it no longer interferes in political affairs.

KARACHI: Cash-strapped Pakistan plans to save $1 billion per year through a new energy conservation plan that calls for, among other measures, closing markets across the country earlier than normal business hours, according to a government document, though Pakistani business leaders have rejected the proposal as "unrealistic" and "illogical."

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal this week announced that the National Economic Council (NEC) had approved a proposal to close all markets across the country at 8pm from July 1.

The move is part of a larger scheme by the government to spur economic growth through an action plan called Export, E-Pakistan, Environment and Climate change, Energy and infrastructure and Equity and Empowerment or 5Es framework and Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), a brain child of the planning ministry.

The energy conservation plan and associated implementation roadmap was approved by the federal cabinet in January 2023 while the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Policy 2023, prepared by the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA), was approved by the federal cabinet on May 10, 2023.

"The easy to deploy short- and medium-term administrative measures proposed under this conservation plan could save estimated outflow of USD ($) One billion per annum in terms of energy saving," a government document seen by Arab News said.

Listing measures under the plan, the document said:

"The closure of commercial markets at 8 pm which will result in annual energy saving of 2.85 billion electricity units and will offer a financial saving of 282 million USD, Ban on the incandescent bulbs which will result in a saving of 1 billion electricity units in a year with a financial benefit of 103 million USD, Mandatory installation of the conical baffles in the water geysers which will save 419 million USD."

Overall, the long-term implementation of the NEECA policy measures will result in financial savings of $6.4 billion from 2030 onwards, according to official estimates.

The South Asian nation last attempted to enforce early market closures in June and December 2022 but was met with resistance from traders. This time too, Pakistani traders have rejected the government's plan, saying it will cause revenue and job losses at a time that the country is grappling with record inflation, fiscal imbalances, and low reserves.

"We strongly reject the government's plan to shut down markets at 8pm," Kashif Chaudhry, the president of the Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajran Pakistan, a central body of traders, said in a statement. "The decision has been taken in haste without consulting traders. It is an unrealistic plan."

Chaudhry called the plan an "enemy of traders and the public," and said such "illogical energy conservation plans" had also failed in the past. Atiq Mir, the chairman of the All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, the main business association in the city, concurred with Chaudhry.

"The decision is not practicable," he told Arab News. "Such decisions were taken in the past and could not be implemented."

Retail sector stakeholders said the government's decision would impact both revenue generation and employment rates.

"I think the decision taken is not realistic under the current economic downturn and would put the livelihood of around three million people at stake," Rana Tariq Mehboob, the chairman of the Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP), told Arab News.

"This decision will hit the economy with around Rs3.6 trillion losses while it is already reeling under the impact of slowdown."

Experts also said there was little hope the new plan would be implemented.

"They will not be able to implement this time too," Ammar Habib Khan, an economist and energy expert, told Arab News. "Due to weak administration and weak enforcement mechanisms, you can't implement this energy saving action plan … In fact, there is no will to enforce it."

Ahsan Iqbal and other planning ministry officials did not respond to Arab News queries about expected measures to enforce the energy saving plan.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, said on Wednesday the government was working on setting up a "streamlined one-window operation" for foreign investors, with a focus on investments and joint ventures with Middle Eastern nations.

Pakistan has close ties with a number of Middle Eastern countries, especially Saudi Arabia and UAE, which are the largest source of remittances to the South Asian nation.

"Pakistan is currently striving to establish a streamlined one-window operation within its Board of Investment (BOI) to revitalize the national economy and attain sustained growth, with a particular focus on fostering partnerships and securing direct foreign investment from Middle Eastern countries through joint ventures," Iqbal said on Wednesday.

He was addressing a conference titled, "Developments in the Middle East: Lessons and Opportunities for Pakistan," jointly organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and the digital news platform, We News.

"Pakistan can tap into Middle Eastern countries’ interests and requirements, particularly in the agriculture sector, by attracting investments for modernization and joint projects, aiming to meet domestic needs and boost agricultural exports," the planning minister said.

Pakistan could also leverage its young population and IT skills to become an information powerhouse, aligning with the fast-growing Middle Eastern market, Iqbal added.

"Our national center for artificial intelligence is working in close collaboration with Saudi Arabia, which is a very welcoming development," he said, adding that Pakistan could also explore opportunities in green energy projects to benefit from investment by Middle Eastern countries in the energy sector.

"We can enhance mineral exports through joint mining ventures and benefit from Middle Eastern companies’ expertise in tourism development to tap the vast potential in this sector," he added.

The minister said the Middle East was witnessing "fast-paced development projects" for which skilled manpower was needed, which is why the federal government had recently established a task force to align Pakistan's workforce and youth with market-based demands.

Dr. Ali Awadh Asseri, former Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, said the Kingdom's Vision 2030 had successfully diversified its economy, presenting abundant opportunities for friendly nations like Pakistan.

"The region is going through a major shift from geopolitics to geoeconomics as China has emerged as a key partner in the region investing in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and historic turnaround of Iran-Saudi Arabia relations have opened new opportunities, especially in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and economic integration of Central Asia through it," Asseri said while addressing the conference through video link from Saudi Arabia.

Former Pakistani ambassador to Riyadh, Vice Admiral (retired) Khan Hasham Bin Siddiqui, said Saudi Arabi's Vision 2030 emphasized new mega infrastructure projects and the privatization of several state-owned industries including energy, health care, and education, which created a lot of opportunities for allies like Pakistan.

"These developments are creating more demands and opportunities," he said, "which Pakistan can avail by sending more skilled labor and also exporting its products required in new projects."