KARACHI: President Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Irfan Iqbal Sheikh has said that Pakistan-Turkiye bilateral economic and trade relations were improving; whereas the bilateral trade with Turkiye had surpassed $1 billion.
It was a milestone and we could only envisage Pakistani exports to Turkiye growing steadily from here onwards, he added.
It is pertinent to note that a high-profile and large Turkish trade delegation is visiting Pakistan; and, FPCCI has organized a multi-sector B2B networking session for the delegation.
The B2B event attracted top traders from all sectors of both the countries and a total of 350 traders took part in the meetings – encompassing diverse industries; exploration of joint ventures; transfer of knowledge and technology; assessing the trade potential in non-conventional product segments and vistas that will be opened after the Turkish parliament passes that Trade in Goods Agreement (TGA) with Pakistan.
Addressing the official dinner in honor of Turkish delegation hosted by FPCCI, Suleman Chawla, SVP FPCCI said that Pakistan and Turkiye had never been positioned for more robust, diverse and large-scale bilateral trade growth as they were now due to Pakistan’s accession into TIR Convention for land-based cargoes.
The Chairman of FPCCI’s Pakistan-Turkiye Joint Business Council (PTJBC) apprised the audiences that FPCCI was closely working with DEIK and TOBB for business-to-business and chamber-to-chamber cooperation; and, FPCCI was striving to benefit from Turkiye’s technological advancements in industrial production, quality standards as good as any other European countries, entrepreneurial zeal and exportable goods.
He added that after visit of the aforementioned delegation of Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) and Eastern Black Sea Exporters Association (DKiB), which were the top bodies of Turkish traders; and, this visit would result in enhanced bilateral trade and joint ventures.
Ahmet Hamdi Gurdogan, head of the Turkish delegation, Supervisory Board Member of Türkiye Exporters Assembly and Vice President of Eastern Black Sea Exporters Association, said that the delegation comprised of 45 members and they were looking for their local partners for industrial, trade and commercial cooperation. He also apprised that Turkiye wanted to cement trade relations with Pakistan on the lines of Turkiye-Iran trade relations – making full use of geoeconomic advantages; transit trade and capitalizing on land-based regional connectivities.
Cemal Sangu, Consul General of Turkiye, highlighted that Pakistan had a population of 220 million and Turkey had a population 85 million; and, those 305 million plus people and consumers substantiate a bilateral trade volume of at least $5 billion. This milestone could be achieved in short-term and should not take more than 2 – 3 years to achieve; and, the new TGA should enable us to reach $15 billion 5 – 10 years, he added.
