Pakistani envoy urges joint ventures with Malaysia

Vows to make efforts to improve bilateral trade volume, help country's exporters

FAISALABAD: Pakistan High Commissioner-Designate to Malaysia, Muhammad Nafees Zakaria, underlined the importance of reducing the trade deficit between the two countries, urging local businessmen to play their role in achieving the objective.

Addressing members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), he said that Malaysia may be a small country with a population of about 30 million, but 26 million tourists visit it every year, which creates a big enough market for Pakistani products.

Shabbir Hussain Chawla, the FCCI president, said that the volume of bilateral trade is only $944.632 million and hugely in favour of Malaysia.



Zakaria said efforts would be made to launch joint ventures as well as to promote people-to-people contact through a cultural centre to be set up in Malaysia.

The envoy requested the FCCI to identify specific products of the textile chain that could find a market in the Southeast Asian country.

"Malaysia is itself a small market but through it we could have access to a big market of ASEAN," said Zakaria.

He said that he has planned to organise an exhibition of Pakistani products in April next year in collaboration with the Lahore chamber.

He further said that the Malaysian government has ratified an agricultural agreement that would help Pakistan export agricultural products. "Pakistan also has the potential to export fish and fish preparations but it is ironic that we have failed to tap this potential."

Regarding the exchange of trade delegations, he said that he could immediately arrange video conferences for Pakistani exporters so that they could negotiate and decide on joint ventures.

He also assured that he would try to convince the Malaysian government to offer sufficient number of scholarships for Pakistani students.



Meanwhile, Chawla said that Pakistan is importing different items, including palm oil, from Malaysia worth $792.886 million whereas its exports are only at $151.346 million. He also proposed single-country exhibitions and regular exchange of trade delegations.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2017.

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