Head of six-member delegation from Qatar Ahmed Hussain has invited the Pakistan businessmen to initiate joint ventures with their Qatari counterparts as abundant investment and business opportunities are available there in various sectors including infrastructure, tourism, pharmaceutical and healthcare.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). Other members of the delegation were Managing Director of Unicon Limited Muhammad Khan, MD of Qatar Lubricants Fawad Rana, Managing Partner of Al-Anis Trading Co Israr Malazai, MD Gulf GRC Group of Companies Pervez Iqbal and Managing Partner AIKhayarin Group of Companies Mohammad Idrees while Chairman Pak-Qatar Business Council Mehmood Arshad was also present.
Ahmed Hussain said a single country exhibition had been designed for Pakistani businessmen in Qatar by the end of March 2015, and "we would like to request Pakistani companies to take part in the exhibition to establish close contacts with their counterparts," he added.
He said Qatar was also in dire need of skilled manpower as Pakistan could earn huge foreign exchange through exporting skilled manpower to Qatar. He said Qatar also needed Pakistan's help in education, health and engineering sectors. He also stressed the need to develop a screening mechanism.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said despite the fact that Pakistan and Qatar were members of Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) and also had close, friendly and co-operative relations but those prolonged ties did not reflect in bilateral economic relations.
He said from 2012 to 2013, mutual trade had been decreased from 425 million dollars to 243 million dollars. He said Pakistan's exports to Qatar were consistently declining. In 2011, the volume of total exports to Qatar was 115.4 million dollars, which dropped to 79 million dollars in 2012 and remained the same in 2013.
LCCI President said the Chamber was ready to play an effective role to promote trade and economic co-operation between the two countries. He said Pakistani construction companies which if provided proper information can evaluate Qatar as a potential market. Likewise Qatar can benefit from cheap and abundant labour available in Pakistan for this purpose.
LCCI President said the Chambers of Commerce like LCCI could play a very constructive role in bridging the gap of information and interaction between the businessmen of two countries. He said the exchange of trade delegations could play a significant role in enhancing the two-way trade volume. He said LCCI would also consider planning a businessmen delegation to visit Qatar and its surrounding states for exploring trade and investment opportunities for Pakistan.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said Pakistan was already exporting rice, meat, articles of apparel & clothing, bed & kitchen linens and tents to Qatar but there were many other product lines which could find their place in the market of Qatar. He said Pakistan could supply both semi-processed and processed foods to Qatar.
Other sectors include pharmaceutical, plastics, jewellery, precious stones, sports goods and footwear which can cater to the demand patterns of Qatar. Similarly oil, petrochemical and especially LNG can be the sectors where Pakistan can benefit from the product lines of Qatar.
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