The State Senate New South Wales, Australia, Chairperson Amanda Fazio has underlined the need for boosting trade relations between Australia and Pakistan, as the meager volume of bilateral business does not reflect the cordial ties between the two countries.
Amanda Fazio, who was heading an eight-member strong Australian delegation, was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday. Other members of the Australian delegation included Justice Joanne Harrison, Judge of the State of the Supreme Court, Lynda Voltz Member Legislative Council (State Senate), Shaoquette Mosalmane (First elected Muslim state Senator), Dawn Fardell, member State parliament, Sonia Hornery, Member State parliament and Parliamentary Secretary, Cassandra Wilkinson, Senior Policy Advisor to the Australian Premier and Jon Bonnar, First Secretary of Australian High Commission to Pakistan.
The head of the Australian delegation said the power generation, agriculture, livestock, sports goods, information technology, health and education are the key sectors wherein Pakistani businessmen can take advantage of Australian technological advancements to play their role for economic turnaround of the country.
Amanda Fazio said that Pakistan could avail Australian expertise in vocational training as Australian Vocational Training Modules are best of the best in the world. She also stressed the need for frequent exchange of business-related delegations so that both the sides could have first-hand knowledge of the available opportunities. She said that Pakistani goods were best of the best in the world and has a very huge potential in Australian market.
She said that another Australian delegation relating to furniture would be visiting Pakistan in March 2011 to have first hand knowledge about the available opportunities in this particular sector as a sector-specific focused approach could help give considerable boost to two-way trade. She said that Pakistan-Australia Business Council has also been formed that would primarily focus on increasing trade between Punjab and New South Wales.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik said that with extensive natural resources, including oil and natural gas reserves, the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world and potential for hydropower, Pakistan offers marvellous opportunities to Australian businessmen.
He said that there are prospects for growth in trade and investment particularly in the field of agribusiness, education, mining for oil and gas exploration, IT & Communications and development of processed foods etc. Malik said that Pakistan was an agro-based economy but unfortunately, most of excessive agriculture produce wasted due lack of post harvest technology. He said that Pakistan was striving hard to strengthen its agro-based and dairy industry.
He said that in this regard, the professional expertise of Australian agro-based industrial sector could be very helpful. He said that there is a vast scope of investment in horticulture, cattle and sheep breeding, processing, canning, packing, and preservation of fresh fruits and vegetables. The LCCI President said that the investment opportunities for Australian investors were reflected in the fact that Pakistan is a very huge market having a population of about 170 million. He said that highly skilled and disciplined labour force was estimated at more than 50 million. There is a large corps of professional managers, engineers, computer scientists and bankers.
He said that business houses like LCCI and the different Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Australia could also play a vital role to enhance the trade ties between the two countries. Trade fairs, single country exhibitions as well as exclusive "country weeks" could be arranged on reciprocal basis to achieve this goal. The major Australian exports to Pakistan are fertilisers, mineral fuels, oil seed, fruit and vegetables, iron and steel, paper and paper board while major exports to Australia include textiles, cereals, cotton, leather goods, carpets, sports goods, he added. The Pakistan Consul General in Sydney Hamid Asghar and Senior Vice-President Pakistan Australia Business Council Kashif Amjad also spoke on the occasion.