Malaysian trade delegation to be arriving in Karachi next week: CG

KARACHI: Malaysian Consul General Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad has informed that 18-member trade delegation will be arriving in Karachi next week to explore possibilities on enhancing trade ties with their counterparts in Karachi.

Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), Malaysian CG requested the KCCI to arrange business-to-business meetings with members of Malaysian delegation belonging mostly to food, agriculture, cosmetics, textiles and some other sectors either on 9th or 12th August 2023.

“The exporters of Pakistani dry fruits must also be invited in the B2B meetings who may succeed in striking deals with Malaysian businessmen for exporting Pakistani dry fruits to Malaysia,” he added.

President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Mohammad Haris Agar, former senior vice president Saquib Goodluck and KCCI Managing Committee Members also attended the meeting.

Malaysian consul general said, “We are also going to have a Malaysian trade office in Karachi which will be activated by the end of this year. Presence of Malaysian trade representative in Karachi would certainly result in improving trade ties with the business community of Karachi which is very important to Malaysia.”

He further informed that a Malaysian Airline will also be commencing direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Karachi by the end of this year.

“We are trying our best to timely complete all the formalities for direct flights between Karachi and Kuala Lumpur this year which, besides promoting trade ties, would also open up tourism opportunities available in Kuala Lumpur and Karachi which is a very lively city where lots of happenings are regularly taking place,” he added.

Referring to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Malaysia and Pakistan, he said that FTA between the two countries was being refreshed by adding more tradable items in the lists which would help in dealing with the stagnant trade volume between the two brotherly countries.

Expressing Malaysia’s willingness to enhance trade and investment ties with Pakistan particularly Karachi city, he urged the business community of Karachi to take advantage of the immense opportunities of exporting goods to Malaysia as a lot of goods being manufactured in Karachi would find a very good market in Malaysia but these need to be effectively exposed.

Replying to a query regarding visa-free access to Malaysia, the CG said, “Visa-free facility is usually a reciprocal arrangement between countries so if Malaysia and Pakistan mutually agree, the visa free facility can be arranged. Currently, all the visa applications for visiting Malaysia are processed within 48 hours and even earlier than that in case of emergency.”

He also advised KCCI to share details and invitation about next My Karachi Exhibition at the earliest possible time so that the Malaysian Consulate could start working on it to ensure Malaysia’s maximum participation in this major event.

President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, in his remarks, stressed the need to effectively deal with all the trade barriers which have been hindering smooth trade between the two brotherly countries since long.

“These trade barriers are responsible for keeping the trade volume limited even in presence of FTA which also needs to be upgraded.”

He was of the view that despite excellent brotherly relationships, the bilateral trade volume was far below its full potential as Pakistan’s exports to Malaysia were just around $ 300 million which need to be raised to a reasonable level.

He pointed out that Pakistan’s trade volume with the ASEAN bloc was around $ 9 billion which includes around $ 1 billion in exports and $ 8 billion in imports in 2022-23, of which 84 percent of Pakistan’s trade was with four ASEAN countries namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

“Pakistan and ASEAN countries could further deepen cooperation in various areas such as transport, energy, communications, information technology and agricultural research.”

He said, “Pakistan can also learn from the Malaysian Tourism Model as we have tremendous potential in the tourism sector. Pakistan is a nation of 230 million people and has great potential to export its skilled technical and educated human resources to Malaysia.

With the help of Malaysia, unskilled workers' training and capacity building can boost workers Remittances in the country. There is also a huge potential for joint ventures and investment in the areas of Islamic Finance, energy, low-cost housing, infrastructure development, telecommunications, and education.”

In the end, Tariq Yousuf extended full support and cooperation to Malaysian CG for forthcoming visit of Malaysian trade delegation whose members would be fully facilitated by arranging interactive session at KCCI relevant businessmen from Karachi.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023