Businessmen seek global cooperation to flourish

Lahore, Turkish Chambers agree to exchange trade information.

LAHORE: It has become very difficult to survive in today’s world because of increasing global competition, which calls for cooperation between different nations, a key official of the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

He was speaking at a meeting between a 37-member LCCI delegation, led by its president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, and their counterparts at the Istanbul Chamber on Wednesday.

Istanbul Chamber Vice President Hasan Demir said it was a good sign that in the last decade, developing countries were increasing their share in world trade and the reasons included high rate of urbanisation, increasing population, growing consumer demand and economic dynamism.

The Turkish Chamber and LCCI decided to establish a mechanism for exchange of trade-related information as lack of communications was the biggest hurdle in the way of enhancing bilateral trade.

Both the sides also agreed to utilise their influence in their respective countries to increase sector-specific trade and initiate joint ventures.

“We have seen improvements in recent years. For instance, trade volume stood at $175 million in 2002 but today it has crossed $1 billion. However, this figure is not satisfactory,” he added.

LCCI signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Musiad, an independent association of industrialists and businessmen, to forge cooperation various fields.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2012.