LAHORE: In a bid to strengthen trade and economic relations between Pakistan and India, the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) has presented its services and said that good relation between both the countries will not only help improve business environment but also immensely benefit the entire South Asian region.
SAARC CCI Pakistan Chapter Vice President Iftikhar Malik said this while talking to a delegation of traders of the SAARC member states. He said South Asia was the fastest growing region in the world but it was the least integrated, adding though trade with the rest of the world was growing rapidly, intra-regional trade was merely 5% of its total trade.
“Pakistan and India, with the support of their private sectors, have taken historic steps to normalise bilateral trade relations, but the volume of trade still remains extremely low,” said Malik.
He said the private sector of both countries had to play a key role in the prevailing scenario for viable and sustainable trade relations between the two countries. He said opening of proper trade within the ambit of law would help definitely check irregularities and illegal trade (smuggling) of billions of dollars through land and sea routes.
