FAISALABAD. 9th Pakistan Tunisia Ministerial Conference will be held in Tunisia, during which Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) is expected to be inked, disclosed Adel Al- Alarbi Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia.
Addressing the members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here today, he said that long awaited PTA will give a quantum jump to bilateral trade between the two brotherly countries.
He said that after the last successful 8th session of the joint ministerial commission, Tunisia and Pakistani Authorities are engaged in negotiation to finalize the modalities of this agreement.
He said that the existing bilateral commercial and economic activities are far below the potential of two countries and we must focus on diversification of basket of tradable goods. “Currently we are at the last step of PTA which will allow both countries to exchange list of tradable goods with a preferential trade tariff”, he added.
He said that the Tunisian Parliament has also approved a new investment law to attract foreign investment. “This new code will give foreign investors more flexibility to transfer funds, including profits, out of the country and remove taxes on profits of major projects for at least ten years”, he said and added that a fund for investment has also been created which will help financing of infrastructure projects and funding to encourage investors to launch big projects in marginalized areas of the country.
Earlier, in his address of welcome Shabbir Hussain Chawla President FCCI introduced Faisalabad and Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said that Pakistan’s exports to Tunisia were 23.022 million Dollars whereas the imports were 6.111 Million dollars in 2016. Hence, the balance of trade is in favor of Pakistan. He further said that major Items of exports to Tunisia are Cotton made staple fiber, Cereals and Vehicles (Other than Railways) etc. while the major Items of Imports are Inorganic Chemicals, Organic or Inorganic precious metal and Plastic & articles thereof etc.
Continuing, he said that both Pakistan and Tunisia are members of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The eighth session of Pak Tunisia joint Ministerial commission was held in Pakistan in 2012 and was crowned by the signing eight agreements and MoUs. Now there is a dire need to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries, he added.
Chawla said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is about to materialize which will provide new opportunities to the whole world for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Pakistan. Hence, “One Belt–One Road” will be a breakthrough in the promotion of regional trade. He said that Pakistan is a blessed country having four seasons with five major rivers and large variety of crops. “The under completion and proposed industrial zones will provide excellent opportunities to invest in Pakistan”, he added.
Senior Vice President Sheikh Farooq Yusuf offered vote of thanks while documentaries on FCCI and Tunisia were also screened.
A question-answer session was also held in which Haleem Akhtar Malik, Engineer Sohail Bin Rasheed and Sana Ullah Niazi raised interesting questions.
Later, former President Abdul Qayyum Sheikh and Executive Member Muhammad Umran Mehmood presented FCCI Shields to Mr. Adel Elarbi Ambassador of Tunisia and Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Chaouki Msolla respectively.
