March 23, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1429

LAHORE, March 22: A task force has been set up to formulate recommendations for increasing economic cooperation with the Czech Republic with maximum participation of the private sector.

This was stated by Acting Secretary Board of Investment Major (retd) Iqbal Ahmed, who recently returned from the Czech Republic visit, while talking to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice-President Shafqat Saeed Paracha here on Saturday.

Mr Iqbal said that currently both the countries were in the process of signing a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and an agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation.

He said that the Czech Republic had huge business opportunities in power, textile, pharmaceutical, leather and construction sectors and the Czech businessmen were ready to initiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts.

Czech businessmen are already doing business in Pakistan particularly in the power sector.

He said that the existing volume of trade between Pakistan and Czech Republic could be increased by a frequent exchange of trade delegations. Lack of information is a hurdle in the way of bilateral trade and chambers of commerce in both the countries should play an active role in this regard, he added.

The economic growth witnessed by Pakistan in recent years had impressed the Czech people and they now considered Pakistan the best place to make investment. There is a need to identify possible fields of cooperation.

LCCI vice-president Shafqat Saeed Paracha said that Pakistan’s major exports including leather and textile products to Czech Republic constitute a fraction of the Czech’s total imports. Its total imports of leather products in 2005 amounted to $176.1 million but Pakistan’s share in these imports was only $3 million.

Similarly, textile imports from Pakistan accounted for only 2.1 per cent of Czech’s total imports of textile products.

He said that Pakistan’s major imports from Prague included machinery, paper and paperboard and electrical and electronic equipment.