ISLAMABAD, Jan 21: Pakistan is expected to export around 10,000 small cars to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq through a leading Syrian business group.

Minister of State and Chairman Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Tariq Ikram and chairman of Syrian Nahas Group Saeb Nahas told Dawn here on Tuesday that formal agreement for export of cars and marketing of Pakistani medicines to these markets was expected to be signed during last week of this month.

Saeb Nahas who is a registered trader with the United Nations to do business and trade with Iraq both within and outside the UN-resolution 968 (oil-for-food programme) would meet President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday.

He along with a delegation has come to Pakistan on the invitation of State Minister Tariq Ikram and held discussions with Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and adviser to the prime minister on finance Shaukat Aziz here on Tuesday.

Mr. Nahas has held initial talks with a senior official of Dewan Motors and was expected to sign a formal MoU before Jan 26 when he concludes his visit here.

Tariq Ikram told Dawn that Pakistani cars and truck could compete the international market because exports would be exempt from all duties besides 25 per cent freight subsidy provided by the government coupled with export refunds.

He said the car export agreement and some other agreements with the group would open up trade opportunities for Pakistan in the whole region.

Saeb Nahas said that his company would sign an agreement with Afroze Laboratories of Karachi to do joint marketing of medicines in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Iran besides Afghanistan and Central Asian States.

He said that he was holding talks with Dewan Group and would prefer to purchase 10,000 cars from Pakistan if these were competitive.

He said his group had the mandate to do barter as well as direct business with Iraq. Answering a question he said the US-Iraq standoff was affecting the trade and business activities in the whole of Arab region but hoped this would be peacefully resolved since the UN inspectors had verified that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

He said that his group had diversified activities of trade and manufacturing in the above mentioned countries and would hold discussion with chambers of commerce and industries in Pakistan to look for joint venture partnership particularly in Pakistan and Syria and other regional countries in general.

He said his 30-company group was very influential in 200 million consumer market of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Iran and Iraq that would increase to 300 million consumers by 2005.

Saeb said his group was interested in trade and investment in major fields of tourism, tourism projects, pharmaceuticals, food stuff, chemicals, agro-based industry, automotive industry, engineering material, steel trade, computer material in Pakistan.

Similarly, the group was interested to import engineering products, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, rice, wheat, tractors, cables, paints, fabrics, food items, generators, pumpers and pipelines.

The delegation would also visit Heavy Industries Taxila to explore the possibility of cooperation in heavy industries and road building activities.