FAISALABAD: Pak-Nigeria bilateral trade must be enhanced to one billion dollars in view of robust diplomatic relations between the two countries and in this connection the private sectors of two countries should play their proactive role, said his Excellency Mohammad Bello Abioye, High Commissioner of Nigeria.
Addressing the business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here today, he said that Pakistan and Nigeria are enjoying excellent diplomatic relations but it could not be translated into economic terms according to their potential.
He said that now we must focus on increasing economic relations by involving private sectors of the two countries. He appreciated the well-developed textile sector of Faisalabad and said that Pakistan could enhance its textile and Information Technology (IT) export to Nigeria.
HC Nigeria also welcomed the participation of the businessmen of Faisalabad in Lagos Expo scheduled to be held next month. He assured fool proof security to the participants and hoped that it will open new avenues of trade between the two countries.
Responding to a question about IT export, he said that a workable plan should be shared so that practical steps could be taken. He also assured to provide a comprehensive list of Nigerian exporters of commodities and importers of flavours.
Earlier Imran Mahmood Sheikh Senior Vice President FCCI welcomed the Nigerian High Commissioner and introduced Faisalabad and FCCI. He said that the corona had crippled the global economy but in Pakistan the economy made tremendous progress due to the innovative smart lockdown policy of the present Government.
HC Nigeria said that textile is the iconic identity of Faisalabad but other sectors including chemicals, soap, detergent and pharmaceutical etc are also growing at much faster pace. Quoting statistics of bilateral trade, he said that the total volume of trade is very low as compared to the potential of Pakistan and Nigeria. He said that at present trade balance is in favour of Nigeria.
He further said that Faisalabad is a global player in the textile sector but our textile export to Nigeria is not up to the mark. He said that both countries should make serious efforts to enhance bilateral trade and, in this connection, he recommended regular meetings, organization of Catalogue exhibitions and signing of MoUs between leading chambers of the two countries for sustainable economic relations.
Muhammad Azhar Chaudhry, Engineer Ahmad Hassan, Engineer Asim Munir, Muhammad Fazil, Khurram, Muhammad Tahir Yaqub and others took part in the question-answer session.
Later, Engineer Ahmad Hassan along with Imran Mahmood Sheikh SVP presented FCCI shield to his Excellency Mohammad Bello Abioye. Gifts were also presented to the High Commissioner of Nigeria.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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