LAHORE: Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan Erik Beishembiev said on Saturday that both countries should identify new sectors of economy for cooperation and introduce new tradable items to boost mutual trade.
He was talking to LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Zeeshan Khalil, Mian Zahid Javed, Moazzam Rasheed, Shahid Nazir, Tariq Mahmood, Rizwan Akhter Shamsi, Waqar Ahmed Mian and Khawaja Khawar Rasheed were also present.
The Ambassador said that promotion of foreign direct investment was the top most priority of his government, adding that investing in Kyrgyz Republic is safe, profitable and easy as the main factors are the liberal trade regime, full protection of investments and unlimited repatriation of profits, currency exchange freedom, low business costs, an educated workforce and direct access to state authorities.
Beishembiev said that Kyrgyz Republic attached great importance to development of economical cooperation with Pakistan. Existing volume of trade between Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan doesn’t correspond to their respective potentials. There is a dire need to take sector-specific measures to promote two-way trade. He said that there must be exchange of trade delegation and single country exhibitions on reciprocal basis, therefore, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry should encourage their member to visit the exhibition to initiate joint ventures with their Kyrgyz counterparts.
LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa said Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan enjoyed friendly and cordial relations but our business and economic relations had not been adequately developed. He said the volume of bilateral trade went even below than dollar one million in 2015. Very few items are being traded as pharmaceutical products are mainly exported from Pakistan whereas some tools are imported from Kyrgyzstan.
“We have been talking about exploiting the untapped potential of trade in Central Asian Republics but no significant results have been ever produced. The main issue is to transport the tradable items between Pakistan and these republics. Kyrgyz and China share a long border.
Once the Pak-China Economic Corridor Project gets fully operational, it will become much convenient for both the countries to explore each other markets on regular basis,” Amjad Ali Jawa said. He said that agriculture and livestock, perhaps is one of the dynamic sectors, common between the economies of two countries, where we can pool our resources and expertise to yield maximum results.
He said that organizing single country exhibitions on reciprocal basis, exchange of socio-cultural programs and arranging country weeks can prove vital tools for introduction and marketing of products in each other’s countries.
