LAHORE: Pakistani entrepreneurs should make joint ventures with their Turkish counterparts in the fields of construction, textile, information technology, carpet and plastic. The joint ventures would provide the Pakistani businessmen an ample opportunity to avail benefit from the expertise of Turkey in these particular sectors.
This was stated by the head of 4-member strong Turkish business delegation Engine Oskaloglu while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz presented the address of welcome while former LCCI presidents Bashir A. Baksh, Ijaz Butt, former Senior Vice President Yaqoob Tahir Izhar and Executive Committee Members were present on the occasion. Other members of the delegation were Mehmet Emin Alkandemir, Abdullah Yilmaz and Sukru Batur. The members of the Turkish delegation also had B2B meeting with the LCCI members.
Head of the Turkish delegation said that Turkey for being one of the fastest growing countries, has a lot to offer to the Pakistani entrepreneurs therefore they should avail this opportunities through joint ventures with the Turkish counterparts.
He said that both countries could have first hand knowledge of the trade and investment opportunities through exchange of trade delegation on regular basis.
He said that Turkey and Pakistan have marvelous untapped business potential that needs to be realized by maximizing the involvement of private sectors of the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz hoped that the economic relation between the two countries would strengthen further to create a win-win situation for Pakistan and Turkey.
He said that Pakistani and Turkish businessmen should enhance their bilateral relations which will be beneficial for the both nations.
Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that textiles sector has traditionally been the biggest sector of the economy. Studies and surveys confirm that its contribution in total exports are almost 60% and it engages almost 38% of manufacturing labour force to acquire more than 46% share in overall manufacturing.
The LCCI President said that in the context of having won the GSP plus status, the need of technology improvement and capacity building in textile sector of Pakistan is necessary. We have been offered a golden chance to further increase the textiles exports.
It does attract foreign investment and no other country can become better partner with Pakistan than Turkey. So any initiative from Turkish business community related to Textiles would be welcomed.
Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that Turkey is well positioned to take advantage of Pakistan’s economic potential and its geo-strategic location. He said that trade and investment should be made the central pillar of this cooperation.
The LCCI president emphasized that some kind of understanding should be developed between the private sector representatives of both the countries that will certainly provide basis to convert that into business deals.
He said that some analysts presume that the trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan can be increased as high as $ 2 billion with some joint efforts made by public and private sectors of both the countries.
He also called for B2B meetings on regular basis in order to strengthen our business ties.
The LCCI President said that time has come for making social, cultural and economic alliances to overcome the challenges.
Ijaz A. Mumtaz hoped that the Turkish delegation visit would pave way for enhanced volume of bilateral trade between the two countries.
