KARACHI: Consul General of Turkey Cemal Sangu has said huge potential exists to increase trade between Pakistan and Turkey for which joint ventures are needed.
Speaking at a meeting of Site Association of Industry, he said that we need to unite our strength and experience about defence, tourism, education, agriculture, textile, food security, etc. There are some areas where Turkey has an edge and vice versa. We want to bring our expertise and latest technology to Pakistan.
On the matter of uncultivated land as pointed out by Zubair Motiwala, Turkish Consul General remarked that it is a very important issue being a potential area. In agriculture, we are one of the self-sufficient countries. We wish to find investors and do joint ventures here.
Many companies are now starting cheese manufacturing in Pakistan, he said. He also informed the members about the details of cargo train service between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey and added that Turkey is producing and providing military ships to Pakistan and it will bring expertise and technology to Pakistan, as well.
He said that the history of Pakistan-Turkey relations dates back to centuries and we should be proud of this. The two countries have great leaders. There is potential to increase trade between the two countries for which joint ventures are needed.
Zubair Motiwala, Patron-in-Chief of SITE Association of Industry, said that we are brothers right from the time of the Pakistan freedom movement.
He suggested that duty on denim cloth be removed to promote trade with Turkey. He appreciated the Turkish stitching quality standard. B2B is the real thing to expand relationships, he said.
Motiwala added that Turkey can also help in modernizing the agriculture sector in Pakistan and for that drip irrigation, American sprinkles and seed banks are required. Food security will be the main subject in coming years and Pakistan has got 54 million hectare of uncultivated land which can be cultivated to produce food for a large segment of the world.
Zubair Motiwala said, “If we are able to travel to Turkey via train, we are in Europe. We started a train which took much longer to reach due to unknown problems. Afghanistan is a Muslim country, it needs our help and we should work for them. People are dying there of starvation and kids are suffering from malnutrition. There is too much of a problem in Afghanistan. We are negotiating a barter trade with Afghanistan.”
He stressed the need for exchange of delegations between the two countries and to see the possibility of holding a single country exhibition.
SVP Saud Mahmood of SITE Association of Industry appreciated the Turkish President for openly supporting the Kashmir issue recently in the General Assembly, taking a clear cut stance.
He also appreciated the Turkish economic performance with a per capita GDP of more than 10,000 dollars.
Former president SITE Association, Majyd Aziz said that SITE Association encourages young businessmen to be involved in the affairs of the Association.
The Turkish President has been a very dynamic and prominent supporter of Pakistan. Due to the efforts of the Turkish President and Pakistani Prime Minister, there has been a paradigm shift in world opinion regarding the Muslims.
Textile machinery produced in Turkey has made a difference. Turkey is far ahead in high-tech industry. Economy is the most important matter. He questioned how Turkey can be factoring the needs of countries like Pakistan in promoting trade like in denim sector.
Majyd Aziz added that we need to learn from Turkish foreign policy which is a balanced foreign policy and suggested that for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Turkey should source manpower from Pakistan as a number of contracts will be awarded to Turkey.
Anwer Aziz, Chairman International Relations sub-committee expressed gratitude to the Consul General for sparing time for visiting the Association and remarked that Pakistanis have special bond with Turkish brothers.
Former president SITE Association, Tariq Yousuf said that there are three industrialized major Muslim countries, Malaysia, Turkey and Pakistan. He suggested that some concrete measures should be taken for transfer of technology and knowledge among these countries. We should join hands to make it happen.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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