KARACHI: An 18-member Malaysian delegation led by Chairman Pakistan Malaysia Business Council Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazir bin Meraslam visited the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) to hold Business-to-Business meetings with their counterparts in Karachi.
Consul General of Malaysia Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad, President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Mohammad Haris Agar, Chairman Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Zia ul Arfeen, Former President Majyd Aziz, Managing Committee Members and businessmen mostly from food processing, commodities, cosmetics, chemicals and other sectors were also present.
President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, while welcoming the members of Malaysian delegation hoped that today’s B2B meeting with Malaysian businessmen would yield positive results in improving the existing trade ties between the two countries which have been on a descending note since quite some time now. “I hope that our Malaysian brothers and sisters will be able to find good partners and generate long term trade relations with Malaysia.”
Highlighting various commodities and products being exported to Malaysia and some other countries, he said that most of these products have witnessed negative growth, which needs to be given special attention so that the trade of all such commodities turn positive from negative growth.
He noted that Pakistan’s exports to Malaysia declined to US$299 million in 2023 as compared to US$423 million in 2022 whereas the imports from Malaysia, during the same period, also depreciated to US$1.02 billion.
He was of the opinion that Pakistan imports more and exports less to Malaysia but this can be tackled by exploring avenues for enhancing exports of rice, meat, spices, livestock, dairy products and confectionary items, etc.
He stressed the need to effectively deal with all the trade barriers which have been hindering smooth trade between the two brotherly countries since long. “These trade barriers are responsible for keeping the trade volume limited even in presence of FTA which also needs to be upgraded.”
He was fairly optimistic that trade between Pakistan and Malaysia could improve to a satisfactory level but it would require serious efforts and enhanced interactions between the business communities of the two countries.
Consul General of Malaysia Herman Hardynata Bin Ahmad, in his short remarks, appreciated Karachi Chamber for organizing B2B meeting with Malaysia delegation which was here in Karachi to attend 1st International Food & Agriculture Exhibition.
He hoped that today’s meeting with the business community of Karachi Chamber would result in multiplying the existing trade volume between the two countries.
Former President KCCI Majyd Aziz, in his remarks, mentioned that due to foreign exchange crunch being faced by Pakistan, trade with several countries has been switched to barter trade wherein commodities were being exchanged.
“Pakistan and Malaysia must also look into the possibility of having a similar barter agreement which would certainly help in advancing the existing trade volume”, he said, adding that both brotherly countries can also look into the possibility of having currency swap agreement which would also prove favourable for both the economies.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023