Turkey's commercial counsellor has signalled his country's interest in joint ventures with Pakistan in printing, security systems, building materials, construction services and textiles. Farhat Kavakli, who was the President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, on Friday, told his host both countries could have first-hand knowledge of trade and investment opportunities through regular delegation exchange.
"Turkey and Pakistan have marvellous untapped business potential that needs to be realised by maximising the involvement of private sectors of the two countries," he added. President Arshad said his chamber was ready to play fundamental role to multiply the existing trade volume between Pakistan and Turkey. "We together need to try to reverse the present trend in bilateral trade. Pakistan's exports are constantly dropping since 2011 when it reached $756 million. In 2013, Pakistan exported to the tune of $407 million to Turkey, but last year the value of total exports came further down to $391 million."
He also said, "So far as imports from Turkey to Pakistan are concerned, these have been ranging between $150 million to $190 million. Considering the size of both economies, these trade figures seem quite dismal. We must find ways to take the bilateral trade to at least $1 billion in coming three to four years." He said the textiles sector had traditionally been the biggest sector of the economy. He said, "Studies and surveys confirm that its contribution in total exports are almost 60 percent and it engages almost 38 percent of manufacturing labour force to acquire more than a 46-percent share in overall manufacturing."
He then called for some kind of understanding between private sector representatives of both the countries that would certainly provide basis to convert that into business deals. He said some analysts presumed that the trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan could increase as high as $2 billion with some joint efforts made by the public and private sectors of both the countries. He too called for regular business-to-business meetings.