QLD:Independents will unite: Katter

New Straits Times
08-23-2010
Envoy has a RM4.8b deficit to redress
Edition: Main/Lifestyle
Section: Main Section

IT was on a markedly sombre note that Pakistan's High Commissioner-designate to Malaysia celebrated his nation's 63rd national day at the lush grounds of the mission in Jalan Ampang.

The subdued chord which struck that cloudy morning a fortnight ago signalled sadness among those gathered over the devastating floods that had claimed a terrible toll on life and property in the Islamic nation.
Masood Khalid arrives at a time when his nation mourns in the aftermath of a catastrophe that many believe is worse than the tsunami in Aceh and the earthquake in Haiti.

With floods wreaking untold damage, it is estimated that the damage to the economy is likely to run into billions.

Not exactly good news for a head of mission tasked with enhancing bilateral trade which, for the time being, is overwhelmingly in Malaysia's favour.

According to Masood, Malaysia exported US$1.6 billion (about RM5.44 billion) to Pakistan last year, which reciprocated with a minuscule US$200 million (RM680 million).

This has been the traditional pattern of Malaysian-Pakistani trade despite the arrival of numerous Pakistani trade delegations in Kuala Lumpur to nudge the economic relationship upwards.

But the former additional secretary in charge of Asia and the Pacific (similar to a deputy secretary-general at Wisma Putra) is upbeat about the future.

"We have the right environment between us. The only thing is that the economic relationship should commensurate with our excellent political ties," Masood said in an interview after the event, echoing the spirit of what a succession of his predecessors had told me.

He has a plan of action that revolves around joint ventures involving halal products and larger Malaysian purchases of Pakistani rice, cotton yarn, agricultural feed, fruits and seafood.

This can be realised through opportunities available under the largely unexplored bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which opens new vistas for trade.

Pakistan is also ready to increase the export of manpower from professionals like doctors and engineers to skilled artisans for the construction industry.

It will be up to Masood to take the bull by the horns to push both the private sectors of the nations into exploring new possibilities.

"The joint committee meeting, which may hopefully be held by December, is expected to review the implementation of the FTA," the erudite expert negotiator said.

Easier said than done, given the Pakistani private sector's propensity to trade with its traditional partners, particularly in the Middle East.

Masood said problems involving law and order in Pakistan "have not deterred Malaysian businessmen from going down, with apprehensions and fears sometimes misplaced".

As the interview proceeded, my thoughts went back to a meeting a group of visiting Malaysian journalists and I had with him in November in Islamabad.

No one had the faintest clue at that point that he would be sitting in the high commissioner's chair in Kuala Lumpur nine months later.

The thought had indeed struck me after our encounter that he would be the quintessential ambassadorial candidate for Malaysia with his cogent views on the politics and economics of Asia and the Pacific which he was in charge of.

(Masood's predecessor, Lt-Gen (Rtd) Tahir Mahmud Qazi, had already told friends that he would be leaving for home soon.)

That the Pakistani Foreign Ministry would send one of its most senior diplomats to Kuala Lumpur is an indication of its seriousness in realising the outcome of government to government talks and negotiations between the two private sectors.

Tahir had set the tone for a more active bilateral relationship with numerous initiatives, some of which are taking shape at the moment.

It is up to the slightly built and soft-spoken former ambassador to South Korea to translate talk into action, a job I feel he is eminently qualified for.

He has led top-level Pakistani delegations in bilateral talks with a host of nations, including India, on, among other things, ways to tone down the vitriol after the Mumbai bombings, in which the Indians claimed Pakistani involvement.

It is this vast experience, along with personal contact with senior Wisma Putra officers, that he brings to the job.

Masood is certainly no neophyte in the world of international diplomacy and much can be expected of him.

(Copyright 2010)
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