Starting work for $1B trade

• Pakistan single country expo now on in Colombo

• ‘PM Shariff’s visit a milestone in bilaterals’-Rishad
• ‘Mutual prosperity’-Pakistani Commerce Minister Kurram
• Bilateral trade at $354 Mn

In the successful conclusion of the recent visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff to Colombo just last week, Pakistan, Sri Lanka’s second largest trade partner in SAARC, unveiled its largest ever Single Country Expo to be held in South Asia in Colombo on 15 January.

 “The recent visit of our Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff has reinforced our commitment to Sri Lanka in a strong way and we are now looking to expand our trade with Sri Lanka greatly. This exhibition is another way we strengthen trade and economic relations for our mutual prosperity” said Pakistani Minister of Commerce, Khurram Dastgir Khan addressing the inaugural event.

 The first ever single country exhibition by Pakistan in Colombo was held in 2008 in a small scale and without Pakistani government’s backing. The Single Country expo unveiled in Colombo on 15 January is of much larger scale –in fact the largest ever single country expo by Pakistan in South Asia todate-and with the direct backing of the Government of Pakistan.

 “The recent successful visit of HE Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Shariff to Sri Lanka is one of the most important bilateral events to take place between both countries in recent times. As the Commerce Minister I am pleased to note that in addition to eight bilateral instruments another eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on promotion of Trade and Investment between the two countries were signed during this visit. In fact there is no doubt that greater economic integration between our two nations should be welcomed since for example the present bilateral trade between both countries do not reflect the full trade potential. Last year our bilateral trade with Pakistan stood at $354 million” said Minister Bathiudeen and added: “Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in the SAARC region after India. Our historic Free Trade Agreement helped to strengthen bilateral trade but we strongly believe that there is great potential for further improvement.

It is in this background that both historic trading partners now aim for a dollar one billion annual trade turnover in the coming two to three year time-line. Therefore the agreements concluded during His Excellency Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Shariff’s recent visit to Sri Lanka jointly witnessed by His Excellency our President Maithripala Sirisena are welcome measures to speedily move towards the dollar one billion trade goal. What is important is that we need to start focused work to achieve this new trade target and move forwards. Among the ways of moving towards our one billion dollar trade goal is to enhance our bilateral contacts through frequent exchange of delegations discussions forums and regularly conducting mutual country exhibitions such as today’s Single Country Exhibition. In fact I believe that from today with the launch of this exhibition we are starting the next stage of our new bilateral trade and economic cooperation efforts which was greatly enhanced by the recent visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff. I have no doubts that this exhibition while bringing the two countries closer will also open our eyes to the new opportunities and potentials for our import and retail business communities as well.”

The Pakistan Single Country expo at BMICH packs 120 Pakistani firms displaying their merchandise-from CNG three wheelers, to ornate quartz handicrafts-and will conclude on 17 January.