Export of rice, frozen food to Malaysia improving share in trade

KARACHI: The Consul General of Malaysia Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad has said that although trade volume between the two countries was largely in favor of Malaysia but Pakistan share in bilateral trade was also improving as Malaysia has increased its purchases of rice and frozen food from Pakistan.

Malaysias exports to Pakistan mainly represent palm oil but we are unable to completely fulfill Pakistans growing demand for palm oil despite the fact that we have been producing palm oil at our peak capacity.

Malaysia is a small country and in terms of palm oil production, we are limited, he said this while speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI).

President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, Senior Vice President Altaf A Ghaffar, Vice President Tanveer Ahmed Barry, Chairman Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Farooq Afzal, former president Majyd Aziz and KCCI managing committee members were also present on the occasion.

The Malaysian CG said last year a Malaysian delegation came to Pakistan in September to explore new avenues of trade cooperation and I will try to bring more such delegations to Karachi this year as well.

He also appreciated the existing trade volume, especially the trade taking place from Karachi region.

He said that both countries have been cooperating with each other not only in trade but also in Defense as Malaysia has been sending its defense officials for training in Pakistan and Pakistani officials from the armed forces were also being sent to Malaysia for training. In addition to enhanced trade, there are many other opportunities in the tourism sector and capacity building in many other sectors of the economy.

Earlier, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, while welcoming the Malaysian CG, stated that Pakistan and Malaysia have strong and diversified bilateral economic relationships in various areas of mutual interest.

He said: The bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Malaysia remains below its true potential as Pakistani exports to Malaysia currently stand at around $ 300 million in FY23 which need to be enhanced to a reasonable level.

Underscoring the need to eliminate trade barriers, encourage ease of doing business and diversify products for economic cooperation, he said that effective implementation of comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) establishing closer economic partnership between Pakistan and Malaysia can substantially enhance trade volume between the two countries.

It is imperative for Pakistan to pursue economic integration with the ASEAN block having a collective GDP size of $ 3.6 trillion. This will open new avenues for strengthening ties and establishing institutional connections with individual ASEAN members and the collective group.

He was of the view that SIFC and CPEC, being the powerful regional economic transformational tools to stimulate FDI, offer tremendous opportunities for Malaysian businesses to explore joint ventures and provide a robust avenue to strengthen and elevate economic relations between the two countries.

Pakistani-Malaysian companies could pursue joint ventures in various sectors such as agriculture, textile, foods, pharmaceutical, sports, footwear, leather, energy sectors, Islamic finance, low-cost housing, infrastructure development, telecommunications, and education etc, he said, adding that collaborative efforts with Malaysia in training and capacity building of workers can contribute to an increase in remittances from Malaysia.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024