Golden Ring region: $22bn exports opportunity must be exploited: LCCI

LAHORE: Economic diplomacy and cross border networking holds key to break the restrictions of low exports and to acquire affordable technology from other countries to improve industrial productivity of the country.

These views were expressed by the President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kashif Anwar while speaking at Golden Ring Economic Forum Series at University of Management and Technology on Tuesday.

Chairman Golden Ring Economic Forum (GREF) Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal (Retd), Hasnain Raza Mirza, President GREF, Director General University of Management & Technology, Abid Sherwani and experts from different sectors also spoke on the occasion.

The LCCI President said that so far as Economic Diplomacy is concerned, we from the platform of chamber of commerce have been consistently making efforts. For that matter, we keep on interacting with foreign diplomats and also develop liaison with international business community.

Kashif Anwar shared his views on key areas where Pakistan needs to spend most of its synergies. He said it has been observed that Regional Economic Integration allows for more significant trade flows and also provides greater business growth opportunities.

He said that economic diplomacy should be used for reviewing existing PTAs/FTAs to utilize them to our own advantage and also negotiate new trade agreements with countries located in Golden Ring region like Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia.

The LCCI President said that these countries are our next door neighbours and we also share border with some of them. It is pertinent to mention that the worth of global trade done by these countries stands around $6 trillion and Pakistan’s share is merely 0.8% in that.

He said that as per estimates, these countries imports almost 76% of such items which are exported by Pakistan to other nations of the world.

So far as top 50 exporting items of Pakistan are concerned, there is a scope of almost $22 billion in Golden Ring region which must be exploited to close the existing gap between total imports and exports of Pakistan.

It has also been longstanding stance of LCCI that we must work towards diversifying our exports markets to reduce dependence on a few countries.

He said that the priority should be given to improving Foreign Direct Investment. Pakistan should create a favourable environment for foreign investors by improving its infrastructure, reducing hurdles, and providing long-term incentives for investment.

He said that the government should also develop special economic zones and export processing zones to attract Foreign Direct Investment. In this respect, the government should also incentivize the Multinational Companies to invest in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023