Pakistan and Argentina should explore new areas of common interest for enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries. This was stated by Rodolpho J. Martin Saravia, Ambassador of Argentina in Pakistan while addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry(ICCI) on Thursday.
Identifying potential areas of mutual co-operation, the Ambassador said Argentina offers good business opportunities to Pakistan in CNG, agriculture, food supplies, tools and machinery for industrial uses, cold storage plants & slaughtering houses, laminated steel as raw material, pharmaceuticals and veterinary sectors etc.
He said Argentina is self-sufficient in wheat production and exports sufficient quantity of surplus wheat and Pakistan could explore this area for meeting is wheat needs. The Ambassador said both countries should step up efforts for probing those areas, which remained untapped so far.
He said Chambers were key institutions for identifying and facilitating interactions between businessmen and stressed for more target oriented exchange of business delegations to achieve better results from such visits. He said proper home work should be done and counterparts should be identified to make the visits of trade missions productive and result-oriented.
He said there were opportunities for Pakistan to export cotton, textile, surgical & sports goods and emphasised for diversification in sectors of mutual interest. He said Argentina was a big producer of sunflower and Pakistan could import sunflower oil from his country. He underscored the need of frequent interaction between embassies and chambers to promote economic relations up to the mark.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Shaukat Masud, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said though the world was badly hit by global recession, however, Pakistan's economy was faring well even in these tough conditions which showed its good potential for trade and investment. He said the current status of two-way trade between Argentina and Pakistan was quite insignificant and did not reflect the potential that exists in the two countries for boosting bilateral trade. -PR