PFC team off to China to attend Canton Fair

A high level delegation of Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Saturday left for China to participate in Canton Fair 2018. The delegation will also visit Sri Lanka on the second leg of foreign tour to explore foreign markets and seek foreign investors for joint ventures in Pakistan.
"The fair will provide an opportunity to explore new avenues by sharing vision, expertise for formulation of future policies, economic studies, sectoral and project specific reports besides promotional efforts," said PFC chief executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq, leader of the delegation while talking to newsmen prior to his departure to China.
He further said the delegation on the second leg will also tour Sri Lanka from Shangai to hunt new vistas of foreign furniture markets to boost exports and seeking foreign investment to pump in local furniture sector to bring it at par with international standard.
The bilateral trade between Pakistan and China registered 10-percent ($4.4bn) increase in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period in 2017; he said adding that the trade registered increase despite the fact that Pakistani businessmen used only 3.3 percent of the total tariff lines.
The delegation will have one on one direct interaction with foreign business leaders, researchers and investors in China and Sri Lanka, he said adding the tour would enable investors to identify potential organizations to partner and developing successful regional economic strategies and support regionally vital businesses.
He was of the view that economic and trade relations between Pakistan and China possess great potential and there was dire need for Pakistani business community to focus on improving their competitiveness in the global markets.
Answering about the furniture scope in Sri Lanka, he said Pakistan can easily double exports to Sri Lanka in a year's time by effectively using the duty concessions under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and if the steps would be taken timely in right direction, he expected Pakistan's exports to Sri Lanka to be $500 million from the current $267 million within a year.