KARACHI: The Consul General of Russian Federation in Karachi, Andrey Viktorovich Fedorov, has said that total volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia was $697 million, down 12 percent from previous year.
Speaking at a press conference at the Consulate General of Russian Federation in Karachi, the Consul General said that the slump in bilateral trade happened mostly due to the COVID-10 lockdowns and supply chains disruptions related to it. He was hopeful that bilateral trade volume will eventually rebound after the struggles caused by the pandemic completely fade away.
As for the steps to increase the trade volume, Russia and Pakistan have to broaden the dimension of their economic cooperation, he said. “We have a lot of untapped potential in almost every sphere of trade partnership. Even though the majority of our bilateral trade is concentrated in commodities, we have many other products and services to offer each other”, he said adding that Pakistan is a major producer of surgical instruments, leather products and sports equipments. There is a whole load of unexplored business opportunities in Russia-Pakistan bilateral economic cooperation.
He said Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) is the flagship project and this pipeline from Karachi to Lahore is aimed at to solve Pakistan’s energy crisis and Russia is ready to provide all the necessary assistance for practical implementation of this crucial project. “We expect the development of PSGP to continue despite the current political turbulence in Pakistan as the first agreements on the pipeline were signed when the same ruling party, PML-N, was in the government in 2015,” he said adding that there is currently a huge demand for Russian oil, as Finance Minister of Pakistan Miftah Ismail has expressed an interest to buy oil from Russia.
He said Pakistan has a huge potential in information technologies sector and is becoming a big player in pharmaceutical production. Pakistan is interested in buying Russian cancer medicine due to its high effectiveness and reasonable price. Unfortunately, due to Western anti-Russian sanctions the supply of this medicine was halted. “However, we are working to put it back of track”, he said.
He said that they are closely monitoring the developments around Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), the only complete cycle steel mill in Pakistan that was built with the help of the Soviet Union in 1960-1970s. “We are waiting for the completion of the international tender auction and we are ready to provide any necessary information for Russian companies to prepare their efforts for participation in the revival and modernization of PSM. Besides, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its special economic zones provide tremendous opportunities for enhancing our bilateral trade and investment,” he added.
About Afghanistan crisis, the Consul General said that Pakistan and Russia both want stability in this war-torn country and are ready to work together with Afghan government in order to secure its peaceful development.
Owing to its extremely important geopolitical location, Pakistan is one the key actors in a large-scale Eurasian integration, he said, adding that CPEC is one of the crucial parts of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and given the cumulative value of its projects, which is more than $65 billion, CPEC is destined to become a true game changer in the region.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022