News Paper: Business Recorder
ISLAMABAD (July 21 2010): United States of America (USA) has reportedly refused to resume negotiations with Pakistan on the much talked about Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in its present format, well-informed sources in Board of Investment (BoI) told Business Recorder.
This was disclosed at a recent meeting of stakeholder ministries/organisations held under the chairmanship of Secretary, Board of Investment (BoI) to review proposals for resuming negotiations on the draft Pak-US Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The sources said Director Legal pointed out that Pakistan and the US have been negotiating BIT since December 2004. Four rounds of direct negotiations along with a series of audio/video conferences have taken place.
Negotiations, however, remained suspended since March 2006, when differences appeared on five major Articles of the Treaty. Recently, in response to a communication from the US, the Pakistani side indicated its readiness to resume negotiations but the US government stated that they were in the process of evolving a new template for the BIT that would be the basis of further negotiations.
Participants, sources said, underlined that it was fruitless to give views on five unresolved articles from the previous template that would no longer be valid when the new template was received. Some participants stated that Pakistan should not reveal its position prior to receiving the new template and first examine its import and implications.
The meeting also decided that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance should monitor progress on the development of the new US template for BIT. After receiving the new draft of the BIT, further consultations and negotiations can then accordingly be resumed, the sources continued.
In December 2008, in an interview with Business Recorder, Senator Waqar, the then Minister for Investment, had stated that in his talks with Senator John Kerry, he had expressed the hope that Pakistan would sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US within six months to a year which has still not materialised.
He had also indicated that if FTA is not signed within this period then Pakistan may opt for BIT which has also remained a pipedream. Pakistan, however, is to start negotiations on BIT on promotion and protection of investment with the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) member states.
The Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment (APPI) among ECO member states was formally discussed by the High Level Experts Group (HLEG) in its meetings held in Islamabad and Istanbul on 17-19 March, 2005 and 5-7 July, 2005 respectively. The current members of ECO include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Of these, three have already signed the agreement. According to the BoI, due to growing economic integration regional economies are collaborating with each other to enhance the ease of doing business and promote regional trade and investment. "Signing of a multilateral investment promotion and protection agreement is a step towards deepening regional ties," they added.
-www.brecorder.com
This was disclosed at a recent meeting of stakeholder ministries/organisations held under the chairmanship of Secretary, Board of Investment (BoI) to review proposals for resuming negotiations on the draft Pak-US Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). The sources said Director Legal pointed out that Pakistan and the US have been negotiating BIT since December 2004. Four rounds of direct negotiations along with a series of audio/video conferences have taken place.
Negotiations, however, remained suspended since March 2006, when differences appeared on five major Articles of the Treaty. Recently, in response to a communication from the US, the Pakistani side indicated its readiness to resume negotiations but the US government stated that they were in the process of evolving a new template for the BIT that would be the basis of further negotiations.
Participants, sources said, underlined that it was fruitless to give views on five unresolved articles from the previous template that would no longer be valid when the new template was received. Some participants stated that Pakistan should not reveal its position prior to receiving the new template and first examine its import and implications.
The meeting also decided that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance should monitor progress on the development of the new US template for BIT. After receiving the new draft of the BIT, further consultations and negotiations can then accordingly be resumed, the sources continued.
In December 2008, in an interview with Business Recorder, Senator Waqar, the then Minister for Investment, had stated that in his talks with Senator John Kerry, he had expressed the hope that Pakistan would sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US within six months to a year which has still not materialised.
He had also indicated that if FTA is not signed within this period then Pakistan may opt for BIT which has also remained a pipedream. Pakistan, however, is to start negotiations on BIT on promotion and protection of investment with the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) member states.
The Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment (APPI) among ECO member states was formally discussed by the High Level Experts Group (HLEG) in its meetings held in Islamabad and Istanbul on 17-19 March, 2005 and 5-7 July, 2005 respectively. The current members of ECO include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Of these, three have already signed the agreement. According to the BoI, due to growing economic integration regional economies are collaborating with each other to enhance the ease of doing business and promote regional trade and investment. "Signing of a multilateral investment promotion and protection agreement is a step towards deepening regional ties," they added.
-www.brecorder.com
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