Ambassador of Argentina Rodolfo J Martin-Saravia on Wednesday offered technical assistance in agriculture sector, particularly for plantation of soybean in Pakistan. While speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Wednesday, he said Argentina is the biggest soybean grower while Pakistan is the largest consumer of this crop. He invited the Pakistani businessmen to set up joint ventures with their counterparts in the livestock and agriculture sectors of Argentina.
The Ambassador highlighted a number of issues hampering the bilateral trade between the two countries. He also gave suggestions to enhance trade between Pakistan and Argentina. He further said there are other sectors including CNG in which Pakistani businessmen could learn from Argentina's experience.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI Senior Vice President Kashif Younis Meher said that trade between Pakistan and Argentine over the last five years has averaged around 68.72 million dollars. The balance of trade has always been in favour of Argentina and needs to be turned into a win-win situation for both countries. The establishment of Pakistan-Argentina Business Council may also act as a catalyst in enhancing the bilateral trade, he said.
Meher said Pakistan and Argentina, signed formal agreement in 2002 giving MFN status to each other, could not attain the desired level of economic relations. The figures of bilateral trade of the last three years further validate my statement. In 2008, our two-way trade stood at US $244 million which fell to US $117 million and US $115 million in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
He said that Pakistan's exports to Argentina did not make any significant improvement except regaining its previous level. In year 2008, the exports stood at $51 million, which dipped to $31 million in 2009 but bounced back to $52 million in 2010. In the same period of time, the imports from Argentina drastically dropped from $193 million to $63 million. In fact that has caused the downturn in overall trade volume between Pakistan and Argentina.
He said that Pakistan mainly exports manmade staple fibres, cotton, toys, sports goods, textile articles, manmade filaments, technical and medical apparatus, plastic products etc to Argentina. Whereas our major imports from Argentina include animal and vegetable fats/oils, pharmaceutical products, rawhides and skins, leather, articles of iron or steel, seed, fruit and cereals.
He said that Argentina is a major producer of cotton, soybean and sunflower seeds. Argentina has expertise in areas like edible oil, iron and steel, CNG, pharmaceutical products, chemicals etc. Pakistan offers lots of investment potential in these sectors. Argentina ranks among the top users of CNG in the world and it is the major producer and exporter of CNG cylinders, car kits, CNG station compressors and dispensers. Some Argentinean companies have also expressed their interest in the exploration and development of gas fields in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Sindh. The earliest possible arrival of these companies to Pakistan will be of greater benefit to both of us.
Argentina is a major producer of soybean and sunflower seeds and cotton and can optimise its benefits by establishing value addition industries based on soybean, sunflower and cotton. He said the Pakistani textile industry is highly advanced and its textile made-ups are known for their quality and Argentine can build upon the experience of Pakistan. These industries can be established on 100 percent equity basis or joint ventures with Pakistani counterparts, he added.