Call to increase trade between Kazakhstan, Pakistan
By Our Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Participants of a conference here on Thursday expressed their disappointment over the low volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Kazakhstan and urged the authorities on both sides to take measures to multiply the present bilateral trade figures.
The Pakistan-Kazakhstan Business Conference was held at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The event was jointly organized by the embassy of Kazakhstan and the ICCI in order to provide an opportunity to the local business community to exchange their views directly with the staff of the embassy of Kazakhstan for eliciting various proposals to ameliorate the situation.
Speaking on the occasion, Kazakhstan ambassador Beibit Issabayev said the unavailability of a good number of transportation routes including air link between the two countries and the inability of officials to create a mutual trust between the business communities on both sides were the main reasons behind the present low trade volume.
During their 12 years of diplomatic relations, the two countries had only been able to take their annual trade volume to $10.4 million in 2003, which was nothing compared to the bilateral trade potential of the two regional Islamic countries, he said.
Kazakhstan possessed six per cent of the world's mineral resources and achieved 40 per cent economic growth during the last four years with $32 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It was becoming an investment-friendly country and there were lots of opportunities for Pakistan to build more enterprises and undertake joint ventures in agricultural, textile, pharmaceutical and cotton sectors.
"We need joint ventures on production, storage and refinement of agriculture products, such as leather, wool, fruits, vegetables dairy and meat," Mr Issabayev said.
The Kazakhstan government, he said, had enacted new investment-friendly laws and had made visa rules more flexible for traders, who wanted to either invest in the country or participate in various exhibitions being held there. Visas, he said, would be issued to businessmen within a week.
He also asked businessmen to directly contact Kazakhstan embassy in Islamabad for information relating to investment in his country. In the next three months, he said, both governments were scheduled to sign three more trade agreements. Because, considerable developments had taken place during the recent ministerial-level consultations between the two countries.
Earlier, the ICCI president, Zubair Ahmed Malik, said the present trade volume could have been 10 times larger had both the governments implemented agreements they had signed since 1993. He said there was much to be desired.
The Indian government had already established a "Trade House" in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, and the Pakistani government should also do the same in order to provide an opportunity to traders to exchange ideas with their counterparts in Kazakhstan and explore new avenues for investment.
