Kazakhstan has offered Pakistan's private sector joint ventures in agriculture, processing, engineering, pharmaceutical, textile, livestock and ginning sectors.
The Kazakhstan Ambassador made the offer during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) on Thursday.
ICCI office-bearers and members including Zubair Ahmed Malik, Mian Akram Farid, Mian Shaukat Masood, Munawar Mughal and others welcomed the ambassador on his arrival at the chamber.
The ambassador agreed with the ICCI members that Kazakhstan and Pakistan have failed to take advantage of their potential to enhance bilateral trade, which stood at $10.4 million in 2003.
He counted three major reasons which, in his opinion, had discouraged trade between the two countries in the past. These were lack of proper information about each other's potential areas, non-existence of mode of transportation and irritant custom laws.
In his opinion, things have changed for the future now when irritants were removed by singing mutual agreements between the two countries.
He referred signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on transportation and air-links in particular and hoped that these would help push up bilateral trade to an optimum level.
The ambassador said that private sector of the two countries has major role in increasing two-way trade in the changing scenario.
According to him, leadership of the two countries was fully alive to the situation and taking all possible steps to ensure better economic ties between the two brotherly Muslim countries.
He added that Kazakhstan offers a number of facilities to foreign investors and Pakistani investors should take advantage of these facilities to cap better return on their investment.
The ambassador told a questioner that his country has put in place laws to provide legal cover to foreign investors' money.
It may be recalled that as a follow up of President General Musharraf's visit to Kazakhstan, which followed his Kazakhstan's counterpart's visit to Islamabad, had resulted in resumption of air-links and setting of each others bank branches on reciprocal basis.
Mian Shaukat Aziz of Fazal Group of Industries showed interest in buying ginned cotton from Kazakhstan for his mills and inquired about the mode of transportation of goods from Kazakhstan to Pakistan.
Mian Akram Farid of Pak Steel wanted to know that how the two countries could co-operate in steel manufacturing field.
Tahir Sadiq was of the view that in free-market mechanism, Pakistan was interested in buying wheat from Kazakhstan.
In his welcome remarks, ICCI president Zubair Ahmed Malik urged the need of exploiting resources of Kazakhstan and Pakistan to enhance trade between the two countries.
He suggested that the government of Pakistan should hold single country exhibition in Kazakhstan, besides opening up Pakistan business house in Almaty.
He stressed the need of close interaction between the private sector of the both countries.
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