The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh has stressed the need for market diversification and urged the businessmen to make inroads in Eastern Europe, which is an untapped market and has a huge potential for Pakistani goods.
He was talking to Ambassador-designate to Bulgaria Jamshed Iftikhar on Thursday. He said that Bulgaria is a gateway to Europe with cheaper labour as compared to Europe, thus, it could help win a number of European destinations. He said that the Pakistani business community wants to develop good trade and economic relations with Bulgarian businessmen and in this regard the role of Pakistan Embassy is a prime importance.
Irfan Qaiser said that both Pakistan and Bulgaria were losing their share in two-way trade. Imports and exports are dropping year by year and it is causing very downward trend in overall trade. Pakistan's exports to Bulgaria were to the tune of US $15.3 million in 2008, which dropped by 22.2 percent and 14.3 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Similarly Pakistan's imports from Bulgaria stood at US $187 million in 2008, which fell by 71 percent in 2009 and reached at US $20.3 million in 2010 registering another decrease of 63 percent. The bilateral trade has come down to US $30.5 million in 2010, which touched the peak of US $202.3 million in 2008. All these figures strongly suggest taking some serious steps to regain the prior level of trade, which was much better.
Pakistan's major exports to Bulgaria comprise cotton, manmade staple fibres, plastics and articles thereof, articles of apparel, cereals, optical, photo, technical, medical, etc apparatus. 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, he said.
Pakistan imports ships, boats, manmade staple fibres, inorganic chemicals, precious metal compound, isotopes, tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes, machinery etc from Bulgaria, he added. 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 ambassador 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 the developing every sector and infrastructure of Pakistan. 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.
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