LAHORE: Ambassador of Argentina in Pakistan Ivan Ivanissevich and the LCCI President Almas Hyder have agreed to make joint efforts to boost mutual trade and to bridge communication gap between private sectors of the two countries.
During over an hour long meeting held at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry bilateral trade, B2B contacts and various related issues came under discussion. The LCCI President Almas Hyder gave thought provoking analysis on Pakistan’s economy, its economic relations with the outer world and trade & investment opportunities. The LCCI Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal were also present on the occasion.
The Ambassador said that the relationship between Argentina and Pakistan goes back to the very origins of Pakistan, and it is like a tree, which people in Pakistan and Argentina cherish, one that they would like to grow even further. He said that both countries need to need to further enhance collaboration between the public and private sectors of Pakistan and Argentina.
He assured that his embassy would facilitate the exchange of business delegations between the two countries. “Regular exchange of business delegations, business and industrial exhibitions, exchange of information, close cooperation between the chambers of commerce of the two countries will enhance trade,” he said, adding Argentina can go for joint ventures in Agriculture, pharmaceutics, alternate energy and passengers transport.
LCCI President Almas Hyder said that Pakistan and Argentina are keeping good diplomatic relations and have been consistent trading partners. He Pakistan’s exports to Argentina have been averaging around dollar 50 million for the last decade. He said that Pakistan and Argentina need to explore each other’s markets.
Pakistan imports soya bean, oil cakes, dried vegetables, medicaments and colza seeds etc., from Argentina. In 2015, the value of total imports from Argentina went as high as dollar 441 million which came down to dollar 92 million in 2018. That much fall in imports resulted in reducing the two way trade figure from dollar 277 million to dollar 140 million.
Almas Hyder said that both countries had given MFN status to each other but we have not succeeded in taking actual advantage. He said that major bottlenecks in promotion of trade and economic activities between the two countries are the lack of information about business opportunities.
The LCCI President said that the Embassy of Argentine can become a reliable source of disseminating trade related information to curtail communication gap.
Vice President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigal said that we also need to undertake frequent activities like exchange of business delegations, participation in trade fairs & exhibitions etc., to ensure a continuous liaison. He said that closer interaction between the Chambers of the two countries can be proved beneficial.
