The six-member delegation of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) held productive and fruitful meetings with the Sudan Cotton Company, Sudan Council for Investment and Under Secretary for Industries and Federation of Sudan Businessmen Federation.
According to the LCCI spokesman, the delegation that is on a seven day visit to Sudan was accorded diplomats protocol at Khartoum Airport and welcomed by both the Sudanese Ambassador in Pakistan and his counterpart in Pakistan. The Sudanese Ambassador in Pakistan Al Shafie Ahmad Mohammad and Pakistan Ambassador Zaid Khan gave a detailed briefing to the delegates about the business opportunities.
The LCCI Senior Vice President, Kashif Younis Meher, who is heading the delegation, briefed the Sudanese government officials that the Pakistani businessmen in general and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in particular were interested in further strengthening economic relations with Sudan.
Addressing the Sudan Businessmen Council, Kashif Younis Meher called for sector-specific measures to expedite exchange of trade related information as non-availability of information is the biggest impediment in the way of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Sudan.
He also urged the businessmen to visit Pakistan for having firsthand knowledge of available business opportunities there. With a view to identify the ways to enhance co-operation between the two countries, there is a need to observe the commodity wise trade trends that would ultimately help evolve a strategy to further strengthen bilateral relations, he added.
Pakistan's exports to Sudan consist of salt, sulphur, lime & cement, articles of iron & steel, pharmaceutical products, textile articles, man-made fibre and cotton etc. On the other hand, leather, raw hides & skins, cotton, iron & steel and miscellaneous manufactured articles are mainly imported from Sudan.