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  • Jan 4th, 2013
  • Comments Off on MFN status to India: Cabinet directs implementation of steps, says Kaira
The Federal Cabinet has constituted another committee to finalise policy guidelines regarding fixation of CNG price with the directives to submit report within three days. This was stated by the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira while briefing media about the Cabinet''s decision here on Thursday.

He said that the Cabinet also considered the policy guidelines under Section 21 of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Ordinance, 2002 and after in-depth discussions decided to form three-member committee to finalise policy guidelines. The members of the committee included Farooq H Naik, Minister for Law & Justice, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Federal Minister for Capital Administration Development (CAD) and Rana Muhammd Farooq Saeed Khan, Minister for Climate Change.

To a question about giving Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, he said that the Cabinet directed implementation of steps for granting MFN status to India. Pakistan wanted to establish cordial relations with all the regional countries and last date of MFN was December 31 2012, he said adding that there was a delay of few days but it would be implemented.

The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval to the ratification of mutual agreement between the State Archive and Administration of China and the National Archives of Pakistan for the year 2012-13. The purpose of this agreement is to encourage relations in the field of Archives between the two countries, on the basis of mutual interest and reciprocity. The Finance Ministry gave a presentation to the Cabinet on the consumer price index in the country to oversee and discuss the trend of price of essential commodities. The Cabinet expressed satisfaction that consumer price index remained in single digit during the month of December 2012.

The Cabinet also discussed and accorded approval to the Amendments to the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design Act, 2011. According to the proposed amendments to the Act, the Vice Chancellor of the Institute will be Chief Executive Officer and Principal Accounting Officer having all powers prescribed for this purpose.

The Cabinet also accorded its approval to start negotiations on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the Field of Disaster Management between the Civil Defence of the Republic of Cuba and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Pakistan. Both the countries can benefit from strengthening bilateral co-operation in sharing expertise in disaster risk reduction, information and scientific research, multi hazard risk mapping, exchange of scientists, training of technical experts in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) institutions and enhancing co-operation in establishment of field hospitals for medical care during emergencies.

The Cabinet also accorded approval for signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic and NDMA, Pakistan on Disaster Prevention and Elimination. Both the countries will benefit from mutual collaboration, share experience and offer assistance to each other during mutual disasters.

The Cabinet considered and accorded approval for ratification of MoU on Defence Co-operation between Italy and Pakistan. The agreement envisages co-operation in the fields of security and defence policy, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, military training and exercises, defence industry and procurement/exchange of defence equipment etc. The Cabinet also accorded Ex-post facto approval of signing of the agreement on Defence Co-operation between the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Pakistan.

The Cabinet also accorded its approval for signing of agreement between government of Thailand and Pakistan on mutual exemption of visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic passports. The Cabinet also considered and approved signing of MoU by National Language Promotion Department and the Academy of Persian Language and Literature (Farhangistan-i-Zuban-o-Adab-i-Farsi), Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the agreement, both the organisations would launch bilateral co-operation programmes to strengthening their friendly relations and institutional capacities. For the purpose, joint training programmes, joint research, joint seminars and exchange of delegation are proposed.

The Cabinet considered and accorded approval to the ratification of South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Agreement on multilateral arrangements on recognition of conformity assessment and SAARC agreement on implementation of regional standards. The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval to the annual report of the National Economic Council (NEC) for the financial year 2011-12. The Cabinet also granted ex-post facto approval for signing of joint declaration on co-operation between Pakistan and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states.

The Cabinet approved the draft agreement between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on joint Inter-Governmental Commission on Economic Co-operation. The Cabinet considered and gave its approval for ratification of agreement for co-operation in the legal field between the Government of State of Qatar and the Government of Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013


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