Joint ventures between Pakistan and Sweden in dairy, technical education, environment, telecom, renewable energy and other potential areas will strengthen trade and economic ties and promote technology transfer, said Ambassador of Sweden Henrik Persson.
Speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), he said that Sweden and Pakistan enjoyed historic diplomatic, economic and trade ties. “Sweden is playing an important role in the economy of Pakistan as a number of Swedish companies are operating here,” he said.
The envoy appreciated the improvement in Pakistan’s ranking on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Index and said that the two nations should benefit from the opportunity.
He hoped that business communities of both sides would get more opportunities in future to connect and start negotiations on trade and investment.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said that just like any developing country, Pakistan had a trade deficit with Sweden. “Sweden should import more from Pakistan to create a win-win situation for both sides,” he stressed.
He called it a matter of great concern that the volume of bilateral trade was on the wane. From 2018 to 2019, the bilateral trade volume dropped from $398 million to $336 million.
“During this period, imports from Sweden declined from $260 million to $205 million while exports from Pakistan fell from $138 million to $131 million.”
Major exports of Pakistan to Sweden included articles of apparel and clothing, articles of leather, rice, sports goods and cotton. On the other hand, imports of Pakistan from Sweden consist of ferrous scrap of iron, paper and paperboard, data storage devices, chemicals and cellular phones.
“There is a considerable room for Pakistan and Sweden to enhance economic cooperation in fields of IT, pharmaceutical, renewable energy, agricultural technology and higher education,” he said.
Misbah pointed out that the government of Pakistan recently approved policy frameworks for the manufacturing of mobile phones and electric vehicles with the aim of setting up a manufacturing base, especially for hi-tech products.
He urged Swedish companies to take benefit of the policy frameworks by establishing their manufacturing units in Pakistan.
He said that Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were being established all across the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor with all the essential infrastructure facilities.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2021.
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