ISLAMABAD: The economies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka do not compete with each other and therefore we can aggressively open up to move from our current ‘few items trade basket’ to a much larger trade scheme, Minister of Commerce Khurram Dastgir said on Friday.

He made these remarks during a meeting with Sri Lankan Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on the sidelines of 14th Session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development in Nairobi.

According to Sri Lankan news website Colombo Page, Mr Bathiudeen said Pakistan proposed for a new, turnaround level trade between the two countries.

“We believe we can start our new rounds with a Mutual Recognition Agreement. We have an opportunity,” Mr Dastgir said. He noted that Pakistan’s single country exhibition held in Colombo was a great success and generated new trade interest among Pakistani businesses.

Mr Bathiudeen welcomed the trade expansion offer and said that Sri Lanka is working to send a strong trade and B2B delegation to Pakistan in the near future.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016

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