May 10, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1424

LAHORE, May 9: Pakistani businessmen should exploit the business opportunities offered by the Asean countries and market their products in that region.

“The economic bloc of about 500 million people has immense business opportunity for the Pakistani exporters, and they must take advantage of it by exploring this market for their products,” the envoys from the Asean nations told the businessmen during a visit to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Thursday.

They also proposed that Pakistan should hold a single-country exhibition in the Asean states to promote its products and increase trade with the one of the most important economic bloc of the world.

The visiting envoys included Malaysia’s high commissioner, Mr Muhammad Hashim Hussein, Indonesia’s ambassador, Mr Jack Said Gaffar, Brunei’s high commissioner, Haji Mustappa Haji Sirat, Philippines’ ambassador, Mr Jorge Arizabal, Thailand’s ambassador, Mr Sornsilp Polteja, and Myanmar’s ambassador, Mr Soe Win.

The Indonesian envoy was sorry to note the low volume of trade between the two countries. “My country with a population of 220 million people offers a huge opportunity for your products such as apples and sanitaryware, but nobody has given a thought of exploiting this opportunity.”

He said by exporting their goods to the Asean regions, the Pakistani exporters could diversify their market. He said Indonesia had imported 15,000 tons dates from Tunisia. “If you had explored the Indonesian market last year, you could have taken advantage of our geographical closeness and exported dates.”

Brunei’s Haji Sirat said Pakistan’s request for membership of the Asean was still pending along with the applications from another five countries. Pakistan already has the status of “sectoral dialogue partner” since 1993. He said Pakistan needed to do a lot more to obtain membership of the organization.

In his address of welcome, the LCCI President Yawar Irfan Khan said the Asean region accounted for less than five per cent of Pakistan’s total exports between 1990-2001.