LAHORE: Durmu? Ba?tu?, Consul General of the Republic of Turkiye visited Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) on Wednesday at PCJCCI Secretariat to discuss trilateral relations between Turkiye, Pakistan and China.

The meeting was attended by the executive committee members of PCJCCI and many top notch business leaders from both Pakistan and China.

Moazzam Ghurki President PCJCCI said that Pakistan, Turkiye and China are three brotherly countries and they can complement each other’s economy in many fields, therefore, they should focus on promoting trade and economic ties to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

He added that Pakistan has gained market access in traditional sectors such as leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, and sports goods; and non-traditional sectors including seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber tubes and tyres, plastics, and engineering goods.

Durmu? Ba?tu?, Consul General of the Republic of Turkiye exchanged his views by saying that Turkiye and Pakistan enjoy good relations that should be transformed into growing business relations to achieve mutual economic benefits.

He added that the current trade volume between the two countries is around 1.2 billion dollars which does not reflect the expected and actual figure. So, our primary goal is to reach 5 billion dollars trade volume in a few years. Half of the Turkish investments in Pakistan, worth around 2 billion dollars, are in the Punjab region, and more than 15 Turkish companies are operating in various fields in Punjab.

Salahuddin Hanif, Secretary General PCJCCI said that the 6,540km journey from Islamabad to Istanbul city takes ten days, less than half the time needed for the equivalent voyage of 21 days by sea. Therefore, the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train project should be implemented and completed not only for freight purpose but also to boost tourism between the three countries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023