LAHORE: A 50-member ASEAN business delegation, led by Mufti Hamka Hassan, Mufti Hamka Hassan, Vice Chairman of Middle East Committee and leader of ASEAN business delegation visited LCCI on Wednesday. The delegation consists of the members of 10 ASEAN countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam.
LCCI Acting President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry presented the address of welcome while DG TDAP Muhammad Naseer, former LCCI president Muhammad Ali Mian, executive committee members also spoke on the occasion. The delegation members hold B2B meetings with their Pakistani counterparts.
Mufti Hamka Hassan, Vice Chairman of Middle East Committee and leader of ASEAN business delegation said that since 1990s the ASEAN members and Pakistan have made number of efforts to go to new heights of trade relations. But not much implementation of the concepts has been done; we need to start concrete measures to revitalize what we perceive as beneficial for the ASEAN countries.
He continues by emphasizing on sharing the experiences of ASEAN countries with each other to move forward particularly in the areas of Islamic Banking, Insurance and Food Processing etc. As we have seen that many manufacturing entities have gone beyond their countries of origin as we can take the example of proton that has opened its automobile unit in Karachi.
He said that one thing which is pertinent in the case of manufacturing that it cannot be a domestic issue anymore but a cross border concept. In the case of Pakistan, he said, is an important country for exports and import as Pakistan has significant exports of sea food and many other items and to streamline the ASEAN trade, we need to explore new avenues such as FTAs between the ASEAN nations.
He said that the second area of interest is the tourism sector which has immense potential and where Pakistan and ASEAN countries can develop. Pakistan has very attractive destinations to visit as do the whole region because we have a long and rich civilization.
He said that in this regard more information should be shared between the ASEAN countries and the people to people contacts are significant.
He said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is an important project for Pakistan and subsequently for the ASEAN countries as well as all ASEAN countries have very good terms with the Chinese and can benefit from the CPEC because it is a gateway to the landlocked regions.
LCCI Acting President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry said that we are well aware of the global economic importance of ASEAN. The ASEAN member states have population of 650 million people and a combined GDP in excess of 3 trillion dollars, making it one of the largest economic blocs in the world. The bloc has played a central role in economic integration through various trade agreements with external partners and has transformed itself as a major trade hub, both within the region and globally.
He said that the global exports of ASEAN are in excess of 2 trillion dollars and its global imports are around 1.87 trillion dollars. There is a tremendous potential for Pakistan to enhance its trade relations with the ASEAN. Pakistan’s exports to ASEAN are merely 1.58 billion dollars while our imports from ASEAN are around 8.96 billion dollars. Pakistan has already signed Free Trade Agreement with Malaysia and the same is in process with Indonesia.
Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry said that he being the President of Pakistan Indonesia Business Forum which also has the honour of having the honourable ambassador of Indonesia as the patron-in-chief - have been contributing a lot in this connection especially ensuring the interests of private sector.
“I myself took many business delegations to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. We are really keen to make the best use of these agreements especially focusing on enhancing the exports of Pakistan”, LCCI acting president added.
He said that this scenario indicates that there is an urgent need to identify potential areas for enhancing trade with ASEAN countries. The private sector in Pakistan needs handholding from our respective counterparts.
He said that we would also like to initiate discussions on Free Trade Agreements, especially as ASEAN. This will certainly help Pakistan having better market access to these leading ASEAN economies. In return, ASEAN countries can make the best use of Pakistan market which population size is reaching 250 million dollars. If I add the population of Afghanistan, then it collectively become a market of almost 300 million people. There is also a need of improving connectivity between Pakistan and ASEAN countries through direct flights and also by improving the shipping links.
He said that Pakistan’s sectors like textiles, pharmaceuticals, sports goods, surgical instruments, agricultural machineries are doing really well since long. Pakistan can offer you good quality and cheap price in these sectors.
“I would emphasize on initiating Joint Ventures in these sectors so that there can be win-win situation for all of us.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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