ISLAMABAD: Brazil is the 7th largest economy of the world with lot of experience and expertise in various fields and it was ready to cooperate with Pakistan in overcoming its problems in energy, agriculture and other sectors, observed Claudio Raja Gabaglia Lins, ambassador of Brazil while addressing business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said Brazil has annual bilateral trade of US$ 78 billion with China, US$ 11 billion with India and now it was interested to improve trade volume with Pakistan as Pakistan was a potential country for business. He said Pakistan and Brazil have been negotiating since long for setting up of a Pak-Brazil Chamber of Commerce and desired that its establishment should be expedited that will help in promoting business linkages and improve bilateral trade between the two countries.
He said Brazil was going to host the Olympics next year and it was a good opportunity for Pakistani businessmen and people to visit Brazil for exploring business and people-to-people contacts. He assured that embassy of Brazil will facilitate Pakistani entrepreneurs in visiting his country.
In his welcome address, Atif Ikram Sheikh, president, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that despite existence of a bilateral trade agreement between Pakistan and Brazil since 1982, the volume of bilateral trade was not in commensurate with the available potential. Its main reason was that both countries were doing trade in a limited number of items and stressed that both should focus on more items to improve two-way trade.
He said many Pakistani products including handmade carpets, towels and bed linen, quality onyx handicrafts, Basmati rice have good potential in Brazilian market. He said both countries could increase bilateral trade in many other areas including meat products, agriculture machinery & products, spices, juices, tea, coffee, auto parts, textiles, leather goods, granites, sports goods, fans and wood handicraft. He urged for frequent exchange of trade delegations to explore new areas of mutual cooperation.
Sheikh Pervez Ahmed, senior vice president and Sheikh Abdul Waheed, vice president ICCI said Brazil should reconsider its high duty structures and strict regulations for import of health and other products so that more Pakistan products could get better access to Brazilian market. They said Brazilian investors should share expertise, transfer technology and set up production plants in Pakistan in areas of interest as Pakistan offered great investment opportunities in various sectors of its economy.
