FAISALABAD: Engineer Muhammad Saeed Sheikh President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here Wednesday said that chamber to chamber relations would be promoted in order to fully exploit the available economic potential of Pakistan and Nepal. He was talking to Mr. Arun Raj Sumargi President Mid Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nepal here today.
Engineer Muhammad Saeed said that both countries were enjoying good diplomatic relations but bilateral trade between the two countries is very negligible. He said that trade delegations will be arranged to provide an opportunity to the businessmen of two countries to have direct interaction with each other and start trade in traditional as well as nontraditional sectors immediately.
Saeed Sheikh welcomed Mr. Arun Raj and told that Faisalabad is one of the premier chambers of the country with 5000 member within its fold. As regards its population Faisalabad is the third largest city while it is second in revenue generation.
He further told that it is the textile hub of Pakistan but other sectors like chemical, sugar and confectionary etc. are also working in this metropolis. However, the textile is the main strength of this city.
He told that out of 13 billion dollars total textile export of Pakistan, the share of Faisalabad is 55 percent.
Commenting on the Pak-Nepal business relations, he said that both countries are members of SARC and SAFTA but despite of these positive factors, our bilateral trade volume in only 2.70 million dollars. The Pakistani exports are 2.2 million which include textile, medical, surgical goods, footwear, pharmaceuticals and food items. On the other hand the Nepal's export is only 0.4 million dollar which include coffee, tea, organic chemical, herbs, spices and paper products etc.
He said that both countries should concentrate on enhancing their bilateral trade by developing B2B relations between their entrepreneurs.
He demanded direct air link, exchange of sector specific trade delegations and single country exhibitions to give a quantum jump to the bilateral exports.
He proposed signing of MOU between FCCI and Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industryto enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries.
Mr. Arun Raj said that he had misconception about Pakistan before coming to this country. However this notion has been dissipated after his arrival in Faisalabad.
He said that he will try to arrange trade delegation of Nepali businessmen so that they could also personally visit Faisalabad and witness the opportunities available this city.
He said that Nepal had the world tallest Mount Everest while his country was blessed with the bewitching natural beauty. He said that Pakistan businessman could play their role in education and skills development in addition to taking part in industrial and commercial activities.
Later, Engineer Muhammad Saeed Sheikh presented FCCI Memento to Mr. Arun Raj Sumargi while in return Mr. Arun also decorated Muhammad Saeed with a pin of the Kathmandu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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