Daily FT: Sri Lanka keen to enhance trade with Pakistan

Nation: Sri Lanka on Tuesday showed interest to further enhance bilateral trade and economic relations with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to do trade in many areas.

Consul General of Sri Lanka based in Karachi, G.L. Gnanatheva, along with the Counsellor of the Sri Lankan High Commission visited Islamabad’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and expressed interest in enhancing bilateral trade with Pakistan.

He said many Pakistani products including pharmaceuticals, rice, fruits and vegetables, steel, cement, garments and textiles have huge potential in Sri Lanka and similarly Sri Lankan tea, wall tiles, floor tiles and bathroom fittings have great scope in Pakistan. He said that the business community of both countries should step up efforts to realise all potential areas of business cooperation.

He said Sri Lanka has signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with China and SAARC countries and by enhancing cooperation with it, Pakistan could get better access to the huge markets of ASEAN and China. He said Sri Lanka was producing 75% electricity through a hydro source and both countries had great potential to cooperate in the energy sector to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

He said Sri Lankan manufacturers had made a huge investment in enhancing the production capacity focusing on Pakistan, but a hike in regulatory duty by Pakistan has affected Sri Lankan exports to it.

He said Sri Lanka was the first country to sign an FTA with Pakistan, but Pakistan’s approach of increasing taxes through SROs was a problem in exploiting the full potential of an FTA. He said Sri Lanka has made attractive investment policies for foreign investors and Pakistani investors should explore Sri Lanka for joint ventures and investment. He said there was huge scope for the Pakistani pharmaceutical sector to invest in Sri Lanka and enhance exports to many other countries.

ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that despite signing an FTA, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was not encouraging and stressed that both countries should focus on improving business linkages between their private sectors for exploring all untapped areas of mutual cooperation.

He said encouraging the frequent exchange of trade delegations and organising a single-country exhibition was the way forward for both countries to promote bilateral trade and economic relations. He assured that ICCI would work with the Sri Lankan High Commission to improve trade relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Nisar Mirza said that CPEC has created plenty of new business opportunities in Pakistan in energy, infrastructure development and other sectors.

They stressed that Sri Lanka investors should visit Pakistan to explore joint ventures and investment in this mega development project.