High Commissioner (designate) to Maldives Muhammad Anwar Chohan has said that there was a huge potential in Maldives for Pakistani businessmen as the country has no production of its own and Pakistani quality products could have a good market with a little sector-specific strategy.
He stated this while talking to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Shafqat Ali and Senior Vice President Abdul Basit at the LCCI here on Tuesday.
LCCI Former Vice President Sheikh Mohammad Arshad and Executive Committee member Mian Murad Ashraf also attended the meeting.
Anwar Chohan maintained that the existing level of trade between the two countries direly needed attention of the concerned circles and the LCCI could play an effective role in this regard.
He also urged the LCCI president to bring a delegation to Maldives so that the Pakistani business community could have a first hand knowledge about the available business opportunities in that country.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Shafqat Ali said that Pakistani businessmen could enter into joint ventures with their Maldivian counterparts in the fields of tourism and shipping.
Pakistani business representatives could also penetrate in sectors like development of real estate, construction and agriculture sector in Maldives, he said, adding, that Pakistan and Maldives could develop small industries in the fields of garment manufacturing, small tanneries, cottage industries and fisheries.
Pakistan can also supply technicians to assist Maldives in setting up various small-scale industries and supply looms and machinery to produce towels and garments, he added.
Abdul Basit said on the occasion that Pakistan mission in Maldives could play a vital role in identifying more areas of mutual co-operation by way of organising business delegations to and from Pakistan and bridging the information gap between the two countries by sending relevant information to the chambers.
He said both the countries enjoy friendly relations and are members of Saarc and Safta. Under the Safta, which is going to become fully operational by 2010, Maldives would enjoy the status of a least developed country and would be entitled to compensation by the developed countries for losses incurred by its economy due to removal of tariff barriers within Safta.
He said that major trade partners of Maldives are UK, USA, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, UAE and Hong Kong. The trade between Pakistan and Maldives is negligible. It hardly amounted to 2 million dollars in 2004. While Pakistan's exports to Maldives amounted to 1.95 million dollars, Pakistan's imports from Maldives amounted to only 0.05 million dollars and there is a need to make concerted efforts to increase the volume of two-way trade.
Major exports of Pakistan to Maldives are rice, textile yarn and fabrics, pharmaceutical products, fresh fruits & vegetables etc, while its imports from Maldives consist of coconut, paper, paperboard, tanning material etc. The export items of Pakistan, which can find their way to Maldives include rice, cement, machinery, steel products, medicines, electrical and non-electrical household appliances etc.
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