Trade pact with Pakistan to be signed this month, says Kazakh envoy

KARACHI: Pakistan and Kazakhstan are going to sign a bilateral trade agreement in December 2022. This was stated by Kazakhstan Ambassador Yerzhan Kistafin during his visit to the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here Thursday.

He said that there were many opportunities for trade with Pakistan and stressed the need for more visits to the business delegations from both sides to get aware of the business opportunities for both countries. For this purpose, he apprised that the visa policy has now been relaxed for Pakistani businessmen.

Furthermore, he said that there was a dire need for banking channel between the two countries and added that an agreement was signed with the Bank of Punjab and started working with other banks.

He said that the population of Kazakhstan is 19 million, which is less than the population of Karachi but Kazakhstan is capable to be considered as a regional hub due to its development and infrastructure. He also invited FPCCI and Karachi business community to explore bilateral business opportunities in Kazakhstan.

We are planning our President’s visit to Pakistan by next year, Ambassador Kazakhstan said and added that they were not strengthening trade relations with Pakistan but reviving brotherly relations to develop cultural ties. He said that MoUs regarding trade promotion, transit trade, Science & technology with academia, etc. would be signed between the two countries, soon.

In his welcome address, president FPCCI Shabbir Mansha said that there were a lot of trade opportunities with Kazakhstan and Pakistan can do business with Kazakhstan in different sectors. He said that Pakistan was providing e-visa service for Kazakhstan and urged that the Kazakhstan government should provide multiple visas for Pakistanis businessmen.

Mahmood Farooq, Commercial Councilor of Pakistan in Kazakhstan said that the government of Pakistan could also import POL products, minerals, wheat, coal, and others from Kazakhstan. Appreciating the efforts of the Embassy of Kazakhstan to ease visa policy for Pakistani businessmen, he said that direct flights between the two countries, which were said to be commenced by next year in February, would enable Pakistani exporters to export perishable goods to Kazakhstan.

He said that dual tariffs, cargo transfer from one vehicle to another, etc were creating difficulties in transit trade but the government of Pakistan was striving to establish a direct link between the two countries and hoped that it would be implemented in near future.

Meanwhile, Additional DG Civil Aviation Taimur Iqbal said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan had established a direct flight connection in 1993 but it was discontinued due to unavoidable circumstances. CEO TCS Moin Malik said that direct flight, banking channels, and relaxed visa policy were imperative for bilateral trade between countries and TCS was capable to provide all required logistic support in the promotion of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Kazakhstan.

Ovais Akram Director NLC gave a detailed briefing on NLC operations through an electronic presentation. He said that NLC had started TIR services for Azerbaijan and Turkey and could provide logistic services to all types of cargo.

Honorary Consul General of Kazakhstan Shams-ur-Rehman said that trade between the two countries can flourish in the Pharma and textile sectors and added that the trade between Pakistan and Kazakhstan was USD 20 million, while the Kazakhstan trade with India was over USD$ 2 billion despite having no land connectivity.

Furthermore, he said that the direct flight operations between the two countries would help boost trade relations between the two friendly countries. A large number of officials and FPCCI members were present on the occasion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022