Trade deal a positive move - economist

Improved trade ties between Pakistan and the Central Asian state of Tajikistan would allow the South Asian nation to establish itself as a gateway for Central Asian trade and commerce, and be a source for increased revenue, according to an analyst. “Developing trade relations with Tajikistan is a step in the right direction,” Dr Akmal Hussain, a leading Pakistani economist, told IRIN from the eastern city of Lahore, a day after the two countries signed eight agreements to boost political and economic cooperation. “We can really be a gateway for Central Asia for trade and commerce and that would be a tremendous source of revenue from the Central Asian states, from the Pakistani point-of-view, and equally, it would provide opportunities for Central Asian states, such as Tajikistan, to boost cheaper exports." The formation of two working groups on countering regional terrorism and regional stability was also announced after the accords were signed in the presence of Pakistani prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Tajik president Imomali Rakhmonov, who winds up his three-day official visit on Friday. The accords focus on visa facilitation, the need to avoid double taxation, education, the judiciary, tourism, cooperation between official news agencies and combating drug trafficking. Earlier, on Wednesday, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf and Rakhmonov announced, after official talks on Wednesday in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that the two countries would step up efforts to enhance bilateral economic relations, with Musharraf saying that Pakistan was willing to help landlocked Tajikistan access the world through its land routes and sea ports. According to Hussain, a strong proponent of Pakistan pursuing a more Central Asian friendly trade policy since the early 1990s, Tajikistan had been unable to benefit from its trade relationship with Russia. “Over the last decade or so, they have been trying to shift the centre of gravity of their economy from de-linking, partially, their rather adverse trade relationship with Russia - Central Asian states are extremely rich in industrial raw materials - and they are looking for a market to the south, in South and South-East Asia,” he explained. Tajikistan, the smallest and most impoverished of the Central Asian republics that were part of the former Soviet Union, is struggling to recover from a devastating civil war that lasted for five years in the 1990s and nearly destroyed the country’s infrastructure, especially in the agriculture sector. Poverty levels were estimated in 2003 to be at 83 percent.