Pakistan-Bangladesh Joint Business Council (PBJBC) meeting will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 27 A 60-member Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) delegation will leave here on August 26 to attend the meeting, which will be addressed by Commerce Minister of Bangladesh as chief guest.
During the course of PBJBC meetings, discussions will be held on the exchange of trade delegations from specific sectors, industrial co-operation and identification of potential sectors for joint venture opportunities.
The council will also review the existing trade pattern and recommendations for increasing trade, single country trade fair, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Non-Tariff-Barriers (NTBs) from both sides.
The formation of Pakistan-Bangladesh dispute settlement committee to resolve amicably the commercial disputes will also be considered.
The private sector of Pakistan has a very optimistic and positive approach and perceives them windows of opportunities, provided a level free ground is given to the countries entering into the agreement. The FPCCI has recommended to the government to conduct well thought out technical study in consultation with all the stakeholders before starting any dialogue on FTA.
The business community of Pakistan considers Bangladesh as a very important trade partner in the Saarc region and is desirous of establishing amicable relations based on cannons of trustfulness and universal law of fraternity.
Presently, Bangladesh is the 16th largest export partner of Pakistan. In the year 2004-2005 exports from Pakistan to Bangladesh were registered at US $206 million against imports of US $6 million.
Major exports of Pakistan to Bangladesh include textile yarn & fabrics, articles of apparel/cloth accessories, cotton America, petroleum products, pharmaceutical products, chilly dry, cement Portland & clinkers, telecommunication equipment, vegetable and fruits, while Pakistan is buying jute raw excluding cutting & waste, tea, jute cutting, betel leaves, sacks and bags of jute and fibre from Bangladesh.
Although statistics indicate growing trend in the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh, the trade volume of US $267 million, depicting only 1.5 percent share in our total trade, neither reflects the real magnitude of amicable relations between the two countries nor the potential available.