Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) has urged upon the government to maintain balance in exports and imports to escape from the trade deficit and Pakistani products be encouraged. President of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mian Iqbal Hassan has called for market and product diversification to increase Pakistan's exports.
He said, at present, when numerous Asian countries like Bangladesh had crossed $100 billion mark as far as exports were concerned, Pakistan had to rethink its strategy. Pakistan would have to focus its attention to the untapped regions like Africa that is destined to become an attractive place for having enormous potential.
Mian Iqban Hassan said that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had given a task to commercial attaché, trade consular of the Pakistani Embassies abroad to explore new buyers and markets for Pakistani products but no results came to surface as yet. He said that the role of commercial sections of the Pakistani Embassies abroad should be more meaningful and they should look at every nook and corner to find new destinations for the Pakistani merchandise, he said. Pakistan should not lose any opportunity to tap African market wherein India had already made a great penetration. It is not only the gold, diamonds and oil reserves that are a great attraction but a number of other untapped sectors including education and tourism provide a solid reason to Pakistani businessmen to increase their interaction with their African counterparts. Mian Iqbal Hassan said Pakistani diplomats working in the outer world needed to reset their priorities as foreign diplomats in Pakistan remained stick to trade and commerce .Africa is a potential market for Pakistani rice while African can supply us leather, fertilisers, cotton, textile products and agricultural products which Pakistan does not produce. Exchange of students, doctors, teachers and scholars should take place on regular basis. Visa policies should be relaxed for each other to overcome unnecessary bottlenecks, he added.