LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has decided to explore Bulgarian Market with the help of Pakistani embassy over there. “Market Research would be done to increase the volume of bilateral trade.”
The decision was taken at a meeting between LCCI senior vice president Almas Hyder, vice president Nasir Saeed and Pakistan ambassador-designate to Bulgaria Babar Hashmi here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The LCCI office-bearers said that Bulgaria is a non-traditional market for Pakistani merchandises therefore all resources should be utilized to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries. Pakistani embassy in Bulgaria should play a significant role in this regard and bring the private sectors of the two countries closer.
The LCCI senior vice president Almas Hyder said that we should consider all ways and means to secure proper place in the Bulgarian market. He said that Bulgaria is located at South-East of Europe and shares borders with important countries like Romania, Turkey and Greece etc and could help Pakistani products to find their way in these countries as well.
He said that Bulgaria is one of the few countries which have least interaction with us. There is a dire need develop good trade and economic relations with Bulgarian businessmen that will be possible if Pakistani mission in Bulgaria play a helping role in this regard.
“Although, the balance of trade is in favour of Pakistan but its volume has to be increased. From 2013 to 2014, the total trade inched up from dollar 23.2 million to dollar 33 million. Pakistan’s exports to Bulgaria were to the tune of dollar 12.7 million in 2013 which increased to dollar 19.8 million in 2014. Similarly in the same period, Pakistan’s imports from Bulgaria slightly enhanced from dollar 10.5 million to dollar 13.2 million. All these figures strongly suggest for taking some serious steps to bring some positive change in the current level of trade, Almas Hyder added.
He said that market Intelligence Reports are serving as a good tool to know about the potential areas where Pakistan can try to take some share. He urged the Pakistani diplomat to market Pakistan as a lucrative place for Bulgarian investors who can use it as a base for access to Chinese and Indian markets. Moreover, Pakistan offers great opportunities to Bulgarian businessmen to invest in energy sector especially on coal based power projects.
The LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed said that Bulgaria has very important seaport called Varna. We need to study the opportunities available for us to access the landlocked countries of Europe which are situated in the neighbours of Bulgaria like Serbia and Hungary.
He said that trade diplomacy has done wonders in bringing two countries closer to each other. We would like to request you to please make use of all the options available to you to generate as many business opportunities for Pakistan as possible. We will appreciate to receive any business inquiry through your reference.
Pakistan’s major exports to Bulgaria comprise bed linen, woven cotton fabrics, polymers of styrene, electro-medical apparatus and cotton yarn etc. We mostly export raw or semi finished goods to Bulgaria which fetch much little price. We need to study Bulgarian market with special focus on exploring opportunities to export finished goods. Pakistan imports tobacco, sunflower seeds, sulphates and worn clothing etc., from Bulgaria.
Pakistan Ambassador-designate to Bulgaria Babar Hashmi said that the fact remains that Bulgaria has only seven million population but it can open up doors of neighbouring countries to Pakistani merchandise. He stressed the need for exchange of trade delegations and their participation in each other’s exhibitions.
The Ambassador-designate said that he would share the list of all trade related events of Bulgaria with LCCI. He said that he would try his level best to send more and more Bulgarian businessmen to Pakistan.
He urged the Pakistani businessmen to join hands with their Bulgarian counterparts and start joint ventures. He said that Pakistani business community would have to adopt aggressive strategy to enter into Bulgarian market because they are not only quality conscious but very selective and careful while making deals with other countries.
