Pakistani envoy promotes joint ventures between Sri Lanka and Pakistan
High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka Muhammad Saad Khattak has reportedly observed that Sri Lanka and Pakistan should seriously look into opportunities for joint ventures between the two countries across high potential sectors to substantially boost economic cooperation.
High Commissioner Khattak had made this observation at the 29th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held recently.
At the Annual General Meeting, Somasundaram Deivanayagam, Managing Director of Eswaran Brothers Exports was unanimously elected as the President of the Council.
“I strongly believe that the active working and participation of forums such as the Sri Lanka – Pakistan Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce are integral to building long-term and sustainable business-to-business linkages between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan-Sri Lanka relationships are bound together by diverse yet similar legacies, linked by trade connections crisscrossing over time. We have helped each other in times of adversity; we have signed a mutual free trade agreement before anyone else. To this end, Sri Lanka has the exceptional status of being the first country with which Pakistan entered into a Free Trade Agreement for trade of goods, which came into effect in 2005. This clearly highlights the trust and expectations that we have in the economic potential of Sri Lanka,” the Pakistani envoy has been quoted as saying.
Elaborating further on the trade ties, the High Commissioner has reportedly indicated that though the current trend of growth in bilateral trade is positive, the present volume of trade which is around US$ 450 million does not reflect the true potential between the two countries.
The High Commissioner has further noted that strengthening bilateral trade and investment between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is a top priority in the agenda of the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka and Pakistan enjoy strong bilateral and trade ties as well as a free trade agreement providing preferential trade opportunities for Sri Lankan businesses. Given Sri Lanka’s close trade ties, foreign businesses/investors looking at doing business with Pakistan could look at setting up base in Sri Lanka to engage with Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistani business/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20210506/Z_4 |