8

3rd Annual Conference
on

Enhancing India-Pakistan Trade 
Date: February 2-3, 2015 
Venue: Longchamp Hall, Hotel Taj Man Singh, New Delhi
[Summary Proceedings]

Programme

Day 1: February 2, 2015 (Monday)

9:45- 10:00 am
Registration
10:00- 11:00 am

Inaugural Session
                                                   
Welcome remarks: Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, ICRIER

Book release:India-Pakistan Trade - Strengthening Economic Relations”

Keynote Address: Yashwant Sinha, Former Union Minister for Finance and External Affairs

 Vote of Thanks : Rajat Kathuria, Director & CE, ICRIER


11:00- 11:30 am
Tea/Coffee
11:30- 1:00 pm

Session 1: India-Pakistan Trade Normalisation: Prospects and Challenges

Chair – Ishrat Husain, Dean & Director, IBA Karachi

Speakers:

  • Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER [Download Presentation]
  • Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi
  • Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, Pakistan
  • A. M. Gondane, Joint Secretary, SAARC, Ministry of External Affairs, India
  • S. A. Hasnain, Visiting Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation
  • S. Akbar Zaidi, Political Economist, Karachi
  • Neelam Deo, Director, Gateway House, Mumbai
12:45-01:30 pm
Lunch
1:30- 2:45 pm

Session 2: Informal Trade: Why Does it Continue to Persist?

Chair – Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER [Download Presentation]

Speakers:

  • Vaqar Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director, SDPI, Pakistan
  • Manoj Pant, Professor, JNU
  • Manab Majumdar, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI
  • Bipul Chatterjee, Director, CUTS
  • Ram Upendra Das, Professor, RIS, New Delhi
2:45- 3:00 pm
Tea/Coffee
4:00- 5:30 pm

Session 3: Non-Tariff Barriers: Real and Perceived

Chair  – Sanjay Kathuria, Lead Economist, Regional Integration, World Bank

Speakers:

  • Selim Raihan, Executive Director, South Asian Network on Economic Modelling, Dhaka [Download Presentation]
  • Majyd Aziz, Former President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry [Download Presentation]
  • I. N. Mukherjee, Former Professor, JNU
  • Muhammad Irfan Tarar, Minister Trade, Pakistan High CommissionT. S. Vishwanath, Principal Adviser, APJ-SLG Law Offices, New Delhi
  • Syed Turab Hussain, Head of Department of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences
4:15- 4:30 pm Tea/Coffee
4:30- 5:45 pm

Session 4: Energy Cooperation

Chair –Ijaz Nabi, Country Director, International Growth Centre,Pakistan 

Speakers:

  • Narendra Taneja, Convener BJP Energy Cell and Energy Expert and Commentator
  • Rajiv Mishra, Power Trading Corporation (PTC), New Delhi [Download Presentation]
  • Rakesh Kumar, Director (Power Systems), Solar Energy Corporation of India
  • Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
  • Mahendra Lama, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University [Download Presentation]
  • Nitya Nanda, Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) [Download Presentation]
  • Ijaz Nabi, Country Director, International Growth Centre, Pakistan
7:00pm

Special Address by Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India
Special Session: Enhancing India Pakistan Trade-Perspectives from Business

Chair – Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, ICRIER

Speakers:

  • Sunil Munjal, Joint Managing Director, Hero MotoCorp 
  • Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan Ltd.
  • Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises Ltd.
  • Sikandar Mustafa Khan, Chairman, Millat Group, Pakistan

Day 2: February 3, 2015 (Tuesday)

9:30- 11:00 am

Session 5: Transport Connectivity

Chair – Arvind Mehta, Joint Secretary, (SAARC), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India

Speakers:

  • Manzoor Ahmad,  Managing Director, World Trade Advisors [Download Presentation]
  • Manoj Krishna Akhouri, Executive Director, Traffic Transportation, Railway Board and Director CRWC, India
  • Chander Agarwal, Executive Director, TCIL
  • Joseph George , United Nations ESCAP South and South-West Asia Office, New Delhi [Download Presentation]
  • Muhammad Anwar, Owner and CEO, Custom Syndicate, Pakistan [Download Presentation]
11:00- 11:15 pm
Tea/Coffee
11:15 12:45 pm

Session 6: Telecommunication Networks

Chair –  Rajat Kathuria, Director & CE, ICRIER

Speakers:

  • V. Sridhar, Professor, IIT, Bangalore [Download Presentation]
  • Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India
  • Parvez Iftikhar, International ICT Consultant
  • Mahesh Uppal, Director, Com First (India) Pvt. Ltd.
12:45- 2:00 pm
Lunch
2:00- 3:00 pm

Session 7: Visa regime: The Critical Link

Chair Sachin Chaturvedi, Director-General, RIS

Speakers:

  • Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan Ltd
  • Atindra Sen, Former Director General,  Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  • Zubair Ahmad, Former President, Federation of Pakistan, Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Karachi
  • Akshay Mathur, Head of Research, Gateway House, Mumbai
  • Pardeep Sehgal,  Partner, Sinochem Impex, Amritsar and Vice-President, Indian Importers Association
3:00- 3:15 pm Tea/Coffee
3:15- 4:30 pm

Session 8: Role of Media

Chair – Vikram Chandra, CEO & MD, New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV)

Speakers:

  • Chandan Mitra, Editor & MD, The Pioneer
  • Salman Shah, Former Finance Minister, Pakistan
  • Najam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief, Friday Times
  • Shujaat Bukhari, Editor-in-Chief, Rising Kashmir
  • Suhasini Haidar, Strategic & Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu
  • Wamiq A. Zuberi, Editor & Chief Executive, Business Recorder
  • Ajai Shukla, Consulting Editor, Business Standard
4:30- 5:00 pm Concluding Remarks
  [Download Speakers Profiles]
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