KARACHI: Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI, has stressed that Pakistan needs to work with Indonesia to formulate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in order to rectify bilateral trade deficit of up to $3 billion each year consecutively for the past many years.
We should work on Brand Pakistan through single-country exhibitions; exchange of trade delegations; cultural & student exchanges and projecting soft-image of Pakistan in the Southeast Asia region, he added.
Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, SVP FPCCI, maintained that ASEAN countries can be a huge export market for Pakistan as it has a population of over 600 million with a very strong middle-class.
Their collective GDP in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) has well surpassed $10 trillion, he added.
Aman Paracha, VP FPCCI, stated the importance of diversifying imports from Indonesia beyond palm oil and exploring opportunities for Pakistani exports in diverse sectors.
He announced FPCCI’s plans to organize single-country exhibition in Indonesia to promote trade and address the imbalance.
Asif Sakhi, VP FPCCI, explained that Pakistan needs to think out-of-the-box to work with the friendly country of Indonesia in transfer of technology, investments and joint ventures as both the countries are strong in textiles production. We can emerge as strong complementary economies through interdependence, he added.
Hanif Gohar, Former SVP & Convener of FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on Diplomatic Affairs, highlighted the trade statistics; which are currently standing at only $400 million in exports from Pakistan and $3.5 billion in imports from Indonesia – largely due to the heavy import of palm oil from Indonesia.
Dr June Kuncoro Hadiningrat, Consul General of Indonesia in Karachi, emphasized the need to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Indonesia during a meeting with the FPCCI Central Standing Committee on Diplomatic Affairs.
Dr June Kuncoro Hadiningrat highlighted the potential for expansion in the bilateral trade basket of exportable and importable items between the two countries – currently limited to a very few products.
He invited Pakistani businesses to attend Expo Indonesia in October 2024, a platform to expand interactions and exploring trade opportunities.
Top businessmen like Mian Zahid Hussain, Chairman PAB-FPCCI; Khalid Tawab, former SVP FPCCI; Shabbir Mansha, former VP FPCCI and Abid Nisar, Chairman of Pakistan – Indonesia Business Council, were also present on the occasion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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