Islamabad, December 15, 2016 (PPI-OT):H.E. Mr. Juan Alfredo Pinto Saavedra, Ambassador-designate of Colombia to Pakistan said that his country was interested to enhance trade relations with Pakistan and the best way to achieve this goal was to develop business linkages between the private sectors of both countries. He said this while exchanging views with business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is based in Turkey and is looking after Iran and Pakistan. He said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Colombia was nominal and its main reason was lack of information on both sides about potential areas of mutual cooperation.
He said Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both countries should sign MoU to enhance B2B linkages that would help in exploring possibilities of enhancing bilateral cooperation in trade and economic fields. He offered his cooperation to facilitate signing of MoU between trade bodies of both countries. He said as a first step, both countries should identify top 20 products for bilateral trade and then gradually expand the range of products to enhance two-way trade volume. He said Colombia enjoyed a strategic location in North America and has signed 94 FTAs with regional countries, thus enhancing close cooperation with it would help Pakistan in getting better market access to North American region.
Speaking at the occasion, Khalid Iqbal Malik, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the best option for Pakistan and Colombia to enhance bilateral trade was to encourage the frequent exchange of trade delegations to explore all areas of potential cooperation. He said both countries should focus on organizing single country exhibitions and participate in each other’s trade fairs, which would help in promoting trade relations.
He said Colombia was producing more than 66 percent of its energy through hydropower and it should share its technology and expertise with Pakistan in this field. He said Colombia was major exporter of oil, coal, coffee and flowers and both countries have the potential to cooperate in many areas including agriculture, textiles, chemicals, minerals, gems and jewellery, technology transfer and infrastructure development. He said Pakistani textile products were known in the international market for quality and Colombia should import textile products from Pakistan. He assured that ICCI would consider signing MoU with Colombian Chamber of Commerce to explore new avenues of business collaboration between the two countries.
Khalid Malik Senior Vice President, Tahir Ayub Vice President ICCI, Shiraz Ahmed Siddiqui and others also shared their ideas for promoting bilateral trade between Pakistan and Colombia.
For more information, contact:
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
Chamber House, Aiwan-e-Sanat-o-Tijarat Road,
Mauve Area, G-8/1,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +9251 225 0526, 2253145, 8432676
Fax: +9251 225 2950
Email: icci@brain.net.pk
Website: www.icci.com.pk