April 10, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 3, 1429

LAHORE, April 9: High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Dr Wijeratne Bandara Dorakumbre has said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka were lucrative investment locations for each other’s exporters.

Talking to Muhammad Ali Mian, President, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a meeting on Wednesday, he said that Pakistan was a gateway to resource-rich Central Asian States and Sri Lanka had duty-free access to European and Indian markets.

Pakistan could export goods to Sri Lanka under Free Trade Agreement for re-export to Europe and India.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka had secured duty-free access for as many as 7,200 products to the European Union under the GSP Plus Scheme. The main product categories which had vast potential in Sri Lanka under the GSP Plus Scheme included apparel and textiles, clothing accessories, sea foods, activated carbon, artificial flowers, foliage plants, rubber-based products tableware and bicycles. There was an ideal opportunity for Pakistani manufacturers who could do 25 per cent value addition in Sri Lanka, the envoy added.

Ali Mian said that the LCCI was making all-out efforts to increase the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, there was a need for the chambers in both the countries to come forward to create a win-win situation.