The LCCI president observed that Pakistan’s total share of exports to Africa was 5.5% in 2007, which inched up marginally to 6.7% in 2011. DESIGN: MOHSIN ALAM
Akbar, who was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday, said that Pakistan’s exports can go up to $50 billion in the coming years, as TDAP has adopted a focused approach to enhancing exports on the basis of information received from 45 Pakistani missions abroad.
Akbar also hinted at the possibility of initiating barter trade with Developing 8 (D8) countries that have weaker banking and financial systems. He said that the proposition was discussed especially with Iran and Nigeria during the recently-concluded D8 Summit.
He also said that TDAP is ready to work with LCCI proposals regarding holding of exhibitions at the Lahore Expo Centre and patronising the chamber’s delegations on visit to various global destinations. Akbar said that TDAP is presently working on creating awareness among businesspersons regarding the right market places for their products.
“TDAP is a facilitator and will extend maximum facilitation to entrepreneurs. The government is quite wary of the issues and challenges faced by the business community and is taking necessary measures to overcome these problems,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar urged TDAP to focus on exploring markets for Pakistani value-added items, as about one half of Pakistan’s exports go to seven countries only while a fourth of exports consistently finds its way into the European Union.
He said that there is a lot of potential in trading with regional countries and blocs like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Central Asian republics, the Middle East, Africa, China, Iran and India, but unfortunately no strategy has been adopted to tap this potential.
The LCCI president observed that Pakistan’s total share of exports to Africa was 5.5% in 2007, which inched up marginally to 6.7% in 2011. “It speaks volumes about our failures in tapping such a huge market,” he observed. “TDAP must spearhead efforts to increase our share in Africa. It is high time that the government follows the EU model for promoting regional trade under Asean, Saarc, OIC and D8,” he added.
The LCCI president also urged TDAP to study the reasons of decline in intra-Saarc and intra-OIC trade. “While suggesting ways to reverse these trends, TDAP should also focus on increasing the share of intra-Asean trade,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2013.
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