Both imports and exports between Pakistan and China important: Commercial Counselor-designate

Lahore: Pakistan’s Commercial Counselor-designate to China Ghulam Qadir has said that both imports and exports between Pakistan and China were important for the two sides.

Qadir met office-bearers of the Pakistan-China Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) here and discussed issues of trade deficit and the means to enhance imports and exports between the two all-weather friends.

Ghulam Qadir stressed that importers and exporters both were important when it comes to trade. “We should come forward to implement a mechanism to enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) because the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Pakistan is low, the inflation rate is increasing day by day, and exports have decreased. We need to diversify the main origins of FDI inflows with better economic diplomacy,” he maintained

He added: “I am grateful to the PCJCCI for conducting a meeting before my visit to China. I will definitely address the queries of our business community and try to resolve them.”

PCJCCI Senior Vice President (SVP) Ehsan Chaudhry proposed establishing ‘Buying House’ in Pakistan to increase imports and exports and provide maximum facilities to the business community.

He contended that the Pakistan government should establish sourcing parks or buying houses and ensure all amenities through a single-window facility, to make the country an attractive destination for sourcing by the international buyers.

“In this way we can develop a long term quality oriented trade relations with China, Middle East and other countries,” he claimed.

Wang Zihai, President PCJCCI, also joined the meeting through video-link and called for taking steps to attract Chinese investment in various potential industrial sectors including furniture, handicrafts, textile, fertilizers, cement, glass-work, energy and pharmaceuticals.

He added that the Chinese government had also allocated buying houses for Pakistan in China where they can present their products.

PCJCCI Vice President Sarfaraz Butt and Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif opined that they were endeavouring to build a better and prosperous future of Pakistan with the cooperation of China.

The meeting was attended by PCJCCI President Wang Zihai, Senior Vice President Ehsan Chaudhry, Vice President Sarfaraz Butt, Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif and executive committee members — SM Naveed, Daud Ahmed, Khalid Raffique Chaudhry, Ashraf Rana, Zaki Aijaz, Muhammad Idrees and Jahangir Ahmed.