ISLAMABAD: Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that Pakistan-Uzbekistan Joint Business Council may be established to increase cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries.
“Pakistan and Uzbekistan must explore investment opportunities in Agricultural, Pharmaceutical, Textile and Sports good,” he said while chairing a high-level meeting with Uzbek delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister of Republic of Uzbekistan Ulugbek Rozukulov.
He further said that in order to realise the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s vision of regional connectivity for enhanced economic integration and to follow up on initiatives taken during the prime minister’s recent visits to Central Asian Countries, the Ministry of Commerce has chalked out a comprehensive plan for trade promotion exclusively focused on Central Asia.
The minister welcomed the delegation and said that the visit will be helpful in promoting trade and economic relations between the two countries. The minister informed the delegation that there exist tremendous trade potential between the two countries and that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Uzbekistan is not reflective of the true potential.
The trade volume between the two countries at present is at the level of $3.92 million in 2015-16 which has increased from $2.98 million in 2014-15. Pakistan’s exports to Uzbekistan have witnessed marginal increase from $1.347 million in 2014-15 to $2.07 million in 2015-16 while imports from Uzbekistan have also slightly increased from $1.56 million to $1.843 million during the same period.
Uzbekistan is a country of about 32 million people with exports $13.32 billion (2014est.) and imports of $12.5 billion (2014est.). The major export commodities include energy products, cotton, gold, minerals, fertilisers, ferrous and nonferrous metals, textiles, foodstuffs, machinery and automobiles while the major import commodities include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, ferrous and nonferrous metals.
