Investment avenues: Officers posted abroad seek FPCCI, KCCI help

KARACHI: Leader of a delegation of the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) Qamar Zaman along with consul generals and trade/ commercial officers of Pakistan designated abroad have sought assistance of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in identifying investment avenues and pinpointing the promising products and services for export so that the same could be effectively promoted in some of the lucrative markets around the world.

Exchanging views during their visit to the KCCI offices, PITAD delegates also underlined the need to hold regular meetings online with KCCI office-bearers on a monthly basis so that they could jointly explore trade and investment opportunities and create strong linkages between the business communities of Pakistan and other countries.

In his remarks, BMG Chairman Zubair Motiwala said that Pakistan’s economy is in a very critical phase as the country is short of foreign exchange and facing a huge trade deficit of $18 billion which can only be reduced by increasing exports and reducing imports.

“The exports contribute 8 percent to Pakistan’s GDP which needs to be enhanced to at least 12 percent,” he said and urged the Pakistani envoys to present and promote a positive image of the country.

He was of the opinion that Pakistan has not been introduced properly at the global stage and the negative propaganda spread about the country has portrayed it as a ‘terrorist state’, stopping residents of many countries to do business with Pakistan.

“We need to defeat this negative propaganda and promote the positive image of Pakistan as well as the ‘Made in Pakistan’ logo.

“The overall situation in Pakistan is much better as law and order is not an issue anymore, while the people are very friendly and peaceful. Karachi and Pakistan are blessed with beautiful places which need to be positively portrayed,” Mr Motiwala said.

“The Karachi chamber will always be available to fully assist and provide information wherever required.”

While referring to the preferential custom duties and tariffs being granted by the US to India and other competitors, he said that trade officers must lobby in the US for preferential customs duties and tariffs for Pakistan as well so that more and more goods could be sent to the biggest export market for Pakistan.

“If it is available to our rival countries but not us, it will not be possible for Pakistan to export more,” he remarked.

He further said that Tajikistan is the gateway to CIS countries which is a very important and lucrative region where goods can be exported through the land route. Although Pakistani fruits are already being sent to the CIS countries, there is room for further expanding trade to this important region through Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

He was confident that Pakistan’s exports can easily be enhanced by giving targets to trade/ commercial officers and granting incentives to them upon achieving the targets.

In his welcome address, KCCI President Muhammad Idrees urged the consul generals and trade officers to focus on exploring opportunities for diversifying Pakistan’s exports and promoting investment opportunities available abroad. “You must also promote the establishment of flight connectivity and look into the status of banking channels so that trade can be aided. We need out of the box solutions if Pakistan’s external sector is to be developed,” he said.

While highlighting the potential sectors for trade and investment as well as import substitution, he said that there is a need to undertake joint ventures in Pakistan’s agriculture sector to enhance yields of the produce through implementation of new techniques as well as improve the processing facilities, warehousing, and cold chain, etc. Keeping in view the vast potential in dairy processing, investment can be attracted in small pasteurisation plants, milk chilling units, storage facilities and refrigerated transport systems, etc.

Halal food processing units, food and beverages processing industry, and poultry farming also offer good investment opportunities to foreign investors.

He further noted that Karachi’s vast coastal belt provides ample opportunities for development of ‘aqua-culture’ and extensive plans are underway for expansion of fish farming; hence more foreign players with experience in this field could take advantage of the situation.

Also, the offshore mangrove forests in Karachi’s vicinity provide lucrative prospects for shrimp farming.

He said that there is a lot of untapped potential in the Blue Economy of Pakistan as various revenue-generating activities can be undertaken in this area, including renewable energy, fisheries, maritime transport, tourism, and waste management. “Therefore, investment can be invited in this area.”

He was of the view that investment can also be invited in expanding the capabilities of Pakistan’s textile sector or inviting investors to partner with local players to expand globally.

The textile sector alone represents 46% of total manufacturing sector and around 40% of total labour force, whereas it is heartening to see that textiles exports stood at $14.5 billion in FY21 which can be improved further through diversification.

Mr Motiwala (via Zoom), KCCI President Idrees, Senior Vice President Abdul Rehman Naqi, Vice President KCCI Qazi Zahid Hussain, Chairman Diplomatic Missions and Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Ziaul Arfeen, Former Vice President Shamsul Islam Khan and KCCI Managing Committee members attended the meeting. Pakistan’s consul generals and trade officers designated to Turkey, India, Afghanistan, Russia, Germany, France, USA, Iran, China, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Belgium and Qatar were also present on the occasion.

Acting President of the FPCCI Suleman Chawla, while welcoming the 14 designated officers from different occupational groups posted in overseas Pakistani missions as consul generals, ministers, consulars and attachés to represent trade, investment, export and import interests of Pakistan, said that his association would like to explain to them various aspects of trade and investment opportunities with respect to their countries of posting.

He further said that some of the officers will take charge in European Union, ECO, SCO, ICCIA-OIC, SAARC, USA and China, which hold significance for the export interests and bilateral trade.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022