Tanzania stresses private sector cooperation
Cooperation between private sectors of Tanzania and Pakistan in different fields can play an instrumental role in improving trade and economic ties between the two countries, said Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) President Paul F Koyi.
During his visit to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Koyi urged businessmen of Pakistan to improve ties with their Tanzanian counterparts by exploring more avenues of trade and investment.
He emphasised that Tanzania was a very peaceful country with immense trade and investment opportunities in many areas, particularly the agriculture sector, which could be explored by Pakistani businessmen and industrialists. He said private sectors of the two countries should start meeting each other, come closer and build confidence, adding that governments of both countries should make visa issuance process easier to facilitate the business community.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah called Tanzania one of the most important countries of Africa. Pakistan’s exports to Tanzania were nearly $87 million and imports were around $21 million, with total trade at $108 million.
Making a comparison, Misbah said the overall trade between Pakistan and Kenya stood at around $670 million.
“Since Tanzania shares border with Kenya and main ports of the two countries are closer to each other, there should not be any challenges to increasing the present level of bilateral trade,” he stressed, adding “we should study each other’s markets and identify the items to be traded.”
The LCCI chief informed the business community that members of Tanzanian business delegation belonged to key areas like information technology, tea and coffee production, dry fruits, textile products, construction, chemicals and agricultural machinery.
“They are interested in finding suitable companies in Pakistan to collaborate with. It is a great opportunity that Pakistani businessmen must capitalise on,” Misbah stressed. Highlighting the performance of pharmaceutical sector, he said over the past few decades, the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan had improved significantly.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2020.
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