FAISALABAD. Shabbir Hussain Chawla President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) has welcomed the decision to open two branches of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in China positively during next year.
In a statement issue here, he said that our bilateral trade volume has jumped to $15.27 billion and we are expecting a sizeable increase in it due to full functioning of CPEC related projects. He said that we are importing goods worth $13.68 billion from China and our exports to china are hardly $1.59 billion.
He said that the businessmen of both countries are using non-banking channels or make their imports and exports through century old barter system. “Pakistani importers and exporters are also forced to channelize their business transaction through different foreign banks that have their branches in Pakistan as well as in China”, he said and added that sometimes during these transactions disputes of different nature prop up and in most cases Pakistani businessmen have to suffer financially.
He said that the presence of National Bank in China will help Pakistani Businessmen to make their financial deals without any fear of unnecessary disputes or litigation with their Chinese counterparts. He further said that the presence of National Bank in China is very imperative and hence government should expedite this process by removing hurdles in the early establishment of National Bank branches in Beijing and Shanghai. He hoped that the business deals made outside the banking channels would be regulated through the NBP.
“It will also eliminate the chances of financial disputes which are most discouraging at present”, he opined.
