Tractor assembly, parts manufacturing: Belarus likely to launch JV in Pakistan

FAISALABAD: Belarus could launch a joint venture for tractor assembly and manufacturing of its parts in Pakistan, said Ilya Kanapliou, deputy head of Mission Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Pakistan, Islamabad.

Addressing the business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here on Friday, he said bilateral trade between the two countries was very poor and we must make collaborative efforts to increase it.

He said a delegation of FPCCI was scheduled to visit Minsk to participate in a science and technology exhibition. “Interested businessmen from Faisalabad could also join it”, he said and added that a food exhibition would also be held next year and would open new avenues for the business community of Faisalabad.

He said Belarus has a well-developed chemical industry. “We are also a leading producer of artificial yarn and fibre which could be exported for the textile sector of Pakistan,” he said and added that we could also discuss issues relating to the technology transfer.

Ilya said that Belarus was exporting 2,000 to 3,000 tractors every year but this process was discontinued due to corona and now we are searching for a reliable distributor for the last three years. Responding to a question, the head of the mission said that 30-40 Pakistani students are studying medicine in Belarus and their number could be enhanced under cultural and educational exchange programs.

He also quoted a meeting between Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Shehbaz Sharif Prime Minister of Pakistan during side line meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. “A joint commission has been constituted to take necessary steps for the promotion of cultural and educational relations between the two countries”, he added.

Responding to a question about the import of chickpea, he said the US had clamped sanctions after the Ukraine-Russian war but trade through land routes had continued via Afghanistan and Iran. He also proposed B2B zoom meetings to promote direct contacts between the business communities of the two countries. He also endorsed the proposal to improve the banking channels between the two countries.

Earlier Dr Khurram Tariq introduced Faisalabad and FCCI and said that recent rains and floods had played havoc inflicting colossal loss to the national economy. He said that FCCI also played its role in rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons and said that we would construct FCCI Town in deep and remote areas of Balochistan.

He said that Faisalabad had the world's largest industrial estate sprawling over 10, 000 acres of land where Belarus could establish a tractor assembly plant and other joint ventures. He said that Belarus had established medical camps in the bordering areas of Ukraine where medical facilities are being offered to the injured.

Leanid Holub, Counsellor of the Belarus embassy explained the reasons for war between Russia and Ukraine and said that it had a negative impact on the economies of the neighbouring countries.

A question answer sitting was also held in which former vice president Bilal Waheed Sheikh, Azhar Chaudhry, Muhammad Tayyab, Saiful Qahar, Mian Abdul Waheed and other members participated.

Later Dr Khurram Tariq presented FCCI memento to Ilya Kanapliou, deputy head of the Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Pakistan, Islamabad while Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain offered vote of thanks.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022