'Pakistan, Canada can get mutual benefit through bilateral trade'

Pakistan and Canada can get mutual benefit through cooperation in energy, fertilizer, education and agriculture fields and a little sector-specific effort could jack-up trade volume between both countries to around $2 billion in a short span of time.
The Leader of Opposition and head of the delegation of Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, Patrick Brown expressed these views while speaking at the meeting with All Pakistan Business Forum. The delegation members, Salma Ataullah Jan (Canadian Senator of Pakistani origin), President of Canada Pakistan Business Council (CPBC) Samir Dossal and Acting High Commissioner Andrew Turner were also present on the occasion.
He pointed out that there were around 350,000 Pakistan origin Canadians in Ontario and now the third and fourth generation were taking their place as productive members of society in a wide variety of professions, businesses and vocations. Many such Canadians feel strongly about contributing to the betterment of the people of Pakistan. This group is also a natural bridge in promoting commerce and trade between the two countries.
He identified several areas including power, fertilizer, education and the agriculture sector for cooperation. With consistent efforts these areas could attract investment and technical know-how from Canada to Pakistan while Canadian business could benefit significantly from a large and growing middle class of consumers in Pakistan.
All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) and Canada-Pakistan Business Council also agreed to enhance trade and investment in Pakistan through joint ventures. Highlighting the importance of cooperation, APBF President Ibrahim Qureshi said that there were a number of sectors that had a huge potential for cooperation, adding livestock and agriculture were the two areas in which cooperation could benefit both the countries.
APBF and Canada-Pakistan Business Council (CPBC) agreed that cooperation will be a landmark in developing trade and economic ties between Pakistan and Canada. It will have an effect of direct investment on project-to-project basis and to enhance market access for Pakistani goods to the Canadian market, he said.