Pakistan and Algeria enjoy excellent political relations but the economic relations are not satisfactory, we are here to strengthen bilateral trade ties by establishing direct contact with the business community of Pakistan, said Dr Ahmed Benflis, Ambassador of Algeria in Pakistan.
Addressing the members of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here on Saturday, he said that Algeria is basically oil exporting country and most of their imports are from EU and France. Some of these countries are indirectly exporting textile products to Algeria also. He said that Pakistan is in deep energy crisis and we could help our brotherly country by increasing exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Similarly, Pakistani businessmen should explore the opportunities and export of rice and textile products directly to Algeria.
He said that there are only two Pakistan businessmen hailing from Karachi and we need to expand our business to business ties by exploiting all our available channels. He invited Pakistani businessmen to visit Algeria and have face to face meetings with the counterparts of this brotherly country. Regarding a question about visa, he said that three-month visa is issued within four days which could be further extended very easily on recommendation of FCCI.
He said that an international exhibition would be held in June this year in Algeria and hoped that Pakistani businessmen would avail this opportunity by taking part in this exhibition and introducing their products there. He said that a number of agreements were signed between trade bodies of both the countries in the past but these were not really implemented.
Earlier in his welcome address to the Algerian Ambassador, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), Mian Zahid Aslam, said that Pakistan and Algeria have always enjoyed extremely cordial and friendly relations. There is tremendous trade potential between the two brotherly Islamic countries. There is an excellent opportunity for Pakistani entrepreneurs to collaborate in different sectors in Algeria.
He said that Algeria is Pakistan's important trading partner but still trade volume between both the countries is negligible if taking account of trade volume of Algeria as US $124 billion in 2012. He continued that in 2011 bilateral trade between Algeria and Pakistan stood at US $27 million. Algeria exported US $1.15 million worth of goods to our country while Pakistan's exports stood at US $26 million.
He stated that there are vast prospects of expansion of bilateral trade including joint venture in textile, agro-based industry, leather goods, oil and gas and IT. Algeria has a great potential market for Pakistani products especially Pakistani textile and textile products having great demand in Algeria. However, due to prolonged energy deficit in Pakistan, power sector offers great investment potential in hydro projects and alternative energy sources. Government of Pakistan policies are also relaxed for remittance of whole profit in foreign currency, he added.
Chamber chief said that by enhancing direct contacts between private sectors of both countries and facilitating them in their efforts, Pakistan and Algeria have the potential to take bilateral trade manifold in the near future. FCCI and Embassy of Algeria in Pakistan should act as bridge for connecting the business communities of both the countries as to exchange of trade delegations on reciprocal basis, single country exhibition and signing of Pak-Algeria Trade agreement etc. Chaudhry Muhammd Boota, Vice President FCCI, former President, Abdul Qayyum Sheikh, Algerian Trade Counsellor, Abdur Rahim, Zeeshan Umer, Chaudhry Muhammad Asghar, Chaudhry Jamil Ahmed, Shahid Mumtaz Bajwa, Ehsan Malik, Sheikh Muhammd Khalid Habib, shared their views on the occasion.
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