July 8, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 7,1424

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KARACHI, July 7: The Defence Export Promotion Organisation has decided to prioritize its efforts for exporting defence- related items to 19 Muslim countries, an FPCCI press release said here on Monday.

This was stated by DEPO’s director policy planning and development Air Commodore Mansoor Malik during a meeting with acting president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed at the Federation House here.

These countries, he was quoted as saying, had been selected after a careful study, adding that 20 countries had been selected in this regard.

The DEPO director had sought FPCCI’s cooperation to promote the export of domestic defence products in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Tunisia, Syria, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Oman, Libya, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Sudan, Thailand, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.

Air Cmdr Mansoor said that defence exports had touched to $100 million mark by comparison with $40 million three years ago.

Stressing the need to form a Defence Industries Association, he said it would help promote cooperation and attract more private sector organisations. He urged the FPCCI chief to issue a no-objection certificate.