LAHORE: High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan, Muhammad Ruhul Alam Siddiqui, emphasized the untapped potential for trade between the two countries.
He cited global economic factors, inflation, and the ability to import goods as reasons why the trade volume between Pakistan and Bangladesh has not exceeded the $1 billion mark.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Kashif Anwar presented the address of welcome while Honorary Consul General of Bangladesh Qazi Humayun Fareed and Fareeha Younis EC Member also spoke on the occasion. LCCI Executive Committee Members were also present in the meeting.
The High Commissioner acknowledged that Bangladesh imports more from Pakistan than it exports, particularly textile raw materials, given Bangladesh’s position as the second-largest exporter of ready-made garments in the world.
However, he noted a significant reduction in Bangladesh’s exports this year due to global factors. Similarly, Pakistan’s ability to import has been affected by its current account deficit and global economic factors.
Highlighting the importance of regional trade, the High Commissioner expressed his belief that SAARC has not been successful in harnessing the benefits of trading in the region compared to ASEAN and EU. He lamented the underdevelopment of regional trade in South Asia and stressed the need to explore avenues for mutually beneficial trade.
Addressing the challenges posed by the global factors, the High Commissioner called for concerted efforts to achieve a win-win situation in trade between the two countries. Recognizing Pakistan’s potential, he encouraged the LCCI to form a delegation to visit Bangladesh and explore areas of interest for investment.
During his tenure, the High Commissioner observed minimal trade disputes between the two countries, citing their shared characteristics and commonalities. He urged a focus on advantageous sectors, such as food processing, where Pakistan possesses expertise. He also expressed Bangladesh’s willingness to facilitate investments in this sector through special incentives. Bangladeshi High Commissioner further mentioned that Bangladesh, which previously imported fertilizers from Russia and Ukraine, is now prepared to import fertilizers from Pakistan.
With both countries acknowledging the potential for increased trade and cooperation, efforts are underway to strengthen economic ties and explore new avenues of collaboration.
LCCI President said that other than India, both Pakistan and Bangladesh are key members of SAARC in terms of the size of their economies, so it is imperative for us to find ways to utilize this platform for enhancing their share in the regional trade. He said that although, the balance of two-way trade is heavily in favour of Pakistan but at present the volume of bilateral trade is still below the actual potential. Considering the size of global trade of Bangladesh that is around 129 Billion Dollars (total exports 63.4 billion dollars and total imports 65.6 billion dollars), we need to make some concentrated efforts to enhance the present level of bilateral trade.
The LCCI President said that according to the State Bank of Pakistan statistics, the two way trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh was around 800 million dollars during 2021-22. Pakistan’s imports from Bangladesh were to the tune of 77 million dollar while our exports to Bangladesh ranged to 721 million dollars. “We expect better trade figures this year as during the first ten months of current fiscal year (July 2022-April 2023), our exports to Bangladesh stood at 644 million dollars while our imports from Bangladesh were 66 million dollars”, he added.
Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan is a major supplier of cotton fabrics, cement, yarn, carbonates, vacuum pumps, Synthetic organic colouring matter, leather and other textile items etc. to Bangladesh. On the other hand, the major imports from Bangladesh include Jute, Unmanufactured Tobacco, Synthetic staple fibres, Hydrogen peroxide, Yarn of jute, Cotton waste, Tea and Slide Fasteners etc. There is a need to focus on exploring new avenues for enhancing trade so that the trade volume can be taken well beyond the current figure of around 2 billion dollars.
He said that Pakistan has huge potential of exporting various items to Bangladesh which are being imported from other countries. For example, the fabrics imports of Bangladesh are around 5.5 Billion Dollars, Coal 1.2 Billion Dollars, Wheat 697 Million Dollars, Sugar 462 Million Dollars, Synthetic Filament Yarn 417 Million Dollars and Parts of Footwear 270 Million Dollars etc. Pakistan can certainly enhance its exports to Bangladesh in these sectors.
Kashif Anwar said that the other potential areas where Pakistan and Bangladesh can enhance economic cooperation and trade are Information Technology Services, Iron and Steel Products, Surgical Instruments, Processed Food, Plastic Products, Automotive Parts, Edible Fruits, Sports Goods, Pharmaceutical Products and Chemicals etc.
He said that there are also tremendous opportunities for the investors in Bangladesh to invest in various sectors in Pakistan through Joint Ventures (JVs) including Tourism, Agriculture, Value Added Textiles, Construction Sector and Energy Sector especially Renewable Energy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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