Pakistan seeks Chinese help in capacity building of manpower

To enhance the capacity of its manpower, Pakistan has requested assistance from China in vocational and technical training in various areas of value addition. Pakistan particularly needs capacity building of its manpower in sectors like textiles, gems & jewellery, ceramics, surgical instruments, leather and light engineering, said Ambassador Masood Khan here.
"At the last meeting of the Free Trade Commission (FTC), China agreed to consider the proposal and invite Pakistan to identify specific training needs in these areas," Ambassador Khan told APP. Meanwhile, to bridge the trade deficit, Ambassador Masood Khan said that the two governments have agreed on a series of measures to reduce it, adding that in this regard, China would be sending purchase missions to Pakistan for identifying suitable Pakistani products for Chinese markets.
The trade deficit right now for Pakistan is US $5.2 billion. In 2010, Pakistan's imports from China also increased by US $1.4 billion and the total volume of imports from China stood at US $6.9 billion. Trade seminars would also be held to create greater space for Pakistani products in China, he noted.
He pointed out that Pakistani traders and businessmen will be attending major trade exhibitions in Kunming, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Urumqi, Kashghar, Dalian and Beijing. Pakistan has also requested China to give unilateral tariff concessions to 268 Pakistani product lines, he said.
Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of China in South Asia. Ambassador Khan said that from January to December 2010, Pakistan's exports to China increased by nearly US $500 million and their overall growth rate remained 37.4 percent.
Total Pakistani exports to China last year were US $1.7 billion compared to US $1.2 billion in 2009. Since 2006, Pakistani exports to China have been gradually climbing. The total volume of Pakistan-China trade rose by US $2 billion to US $8.7 billion approximately. Last year, textiles, ores and mineral products, leather, chemicals and plastics, sports goods, iron and steel and surgical instruments showed the trend of faster growth.