May 28, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25,1424

KARACHI, May 27: A high-level 30-member trade delegation is expected to leave for Kuwait in June to seek business in sub-contracting in infrastructure and rehabilitation process of Iraq besides getting direct contracts and joint venture collaborations.

The delegation will comprise representatives of construction industries, food items exporters like that of rice and wheat, surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals, motor pumps, spare parts, asbestos sheets, sanitary and hospital disposables.

The 30-member delegation, headed by Tariq Ikram, chairman Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), was scheduled to leave for Kuwait in the third of week of this month, but the trip was postponed.

“There is no specific date of the delegation’s visit but hopefully it would be around the middle of next month,” an official in the EPB told Dawn on Tuesday. He said the delegation will also try to establish contacts and hold meetings with the neighbouring countries to jointly participate in the reconstruction process.

The EPB, he said, was also planning to send later another 30-member high-level delegation comprising representatives of leading banks and financial institutions, postal service, information technology, fan industry, fruits and vegetables and telecom sectors to tap business opportunities.

Answering a question whether the EPB has fixed any target of foreign exchange earning through sub-contracting and exports of essential items, he said, “so far no specific target has been fixed as much depends on the outcome and response of the next month delegation’s visit to Kuwait.”

The Kuwait’s visit will help the delegation to identify potential of various sectors besides boosting interaction between neighbouring countries.

Possibility of business for Pakistan during the first phase of reconstruction in Iraq exists mainly in sub-contracting as most of the contracts have already been awarded to many American companies. It is also hard to quantify how much Pakistan can gain but its strength lies in supply of food and medicines.

The US government has a fluid programme for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Iraq. The Bush administration has sought a grant of $2.4 billion from Congress which will be used to provide food, water, medicines and temporary shelter to the people of Iraq. Of this amount — $1.7 billion is for reconstruction, repair and restoration, $543 million for humanitarian assistance and $200 million for expenditure on food stocks.

There is a general observation that India may give tough time to Pakistan in supplying goods to Iraq as it enjoys edge over Pakistan owing to low prices, better marketing, wide industrial base and cheap human resources.

However, Pakistan enjoys an edge over its competitors like Syria, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Turkey in Iraq’s perspective due to quick deliveries and low freight rates. Being an agriculture country, it has surplus stocks of wheat, rice and other food commodities at competitive prices. In textile industry — it can supply tents, blankets and hospital linens besides providing cotton yarn and grey cloth for the Iraqi textile industry. Cement and construction materials are other main items that can be provided to Iraq.

Market observers feel that Pakistan may get a paltry share in reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq out of total $2.4 billion allocated funds by America — but a massive exercise internally and externally could lead Pakistan to get maximum out of the opportunity. Continuous and followed up interaction between the supply sources and Pakistan through dialogues, visits, exhibitions and economic and technical cooperation could prove fruitful.

It is strange, however, as to why the FPCCI and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have not been included in the process of identifying potential for Pakistan’s trade and industry in Iraq. These bodies confirmed that they have yet to receive any communique from the government or the EPB over the participation in reconstruction process in Iraq.

The EPB official said that the board has not contacted these two bodies instead it has contacted businessmen whose items were in demand in Iraq.