'Economic Diplomacy Key To Break Restrictions Of Low Exports'

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2023 ) :Economic diplomacy and cross border networking hold the key to break the restrictions of low exports and to acquire affordable technology from other countries to improve industrial productivity of the country.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Kashif Anwar expressed these views while speaking at Golden Ring Economic Forum Series (GREF) at University of Management and Technology (UMT) on Tuesday. GREF Chairman Lt. Gen. (Retd) Sikandar Afzal, President Hasnain Raza Mirza, UMT Director General Abid Sherwani and experts from different sectors also spoke on the occasion.

The LCCI President said, "As far as Economic Diplomacy is concerned, we from the platform of chamber of commerce have been consistently making efforts. For that matter, we keep on interacting with foreign diplomats and also develop liaison with international business community." Kashif Anwar shared his views on key areas where Pakistan needed to make most of its synergies. He said that it had been observed that Regional Economic Integration allowed more significant trade flows and also provided greater business growth opportunities.

Kashif Anwar suggested that economic diplomacy should be used for reviewing existing PTAs (Preferential Trade Agreements) and FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) to utilize them for our own advantage and also negotiate new trade agreements with countries located in Gold Ring region like Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia.

The LCCI President said, "these countries are our next door neighbors and we also share border with some of them. It is to mention that the worth of global trade done by these countries stood around US $ 6 trillion and Pakistan's share was merely 0.8 percent in that". He said that as per estimates, these countries imported almost 76 percent of such items which were exported by Pakistan to other nations of the world. As far as top 50 exporting items of Pakistan were concerned, there was a scope of almost US $ 22 billion in Gold Ring region which must be exploited to bridge the existing gap between total imports and exports of Pakistan.

"It has also been longstanding stance of LCCI that we must work towards diversifying our exports markets to reduce dependence on a few countries. And priority should be given to improving Foreign Direct Investment.

" Pakistan should create a favorable environment for foreign investors by improving its infrastructure, removing hurdles, and providing long-term incentives for investment. He said that the government should also develop special economic zones and export processing zones to attract foreign direct investment. In this respect, the government should also incentivise the multinational companies to invest in Pakistan.

The LCCI President said that Pakistan had been bestowed with tremendous potential of tourism. Pakistan has a rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, which can attract foreign tourists. The government should promote tourism by developing infrastructure, improving security, and providing incentives for tourism-related businesses. In this regard, religious tourism must be promoted to attract foreign tourists belonging to different religions.

He said that the regional connectivity was another area that required the attention of our policy makers.

"China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a great blessing and we need to pace up the work on it as this will improve our economic ties not only with China but also with other countries in the region." He said that it was high time for Pakistan for improving its transportation and communication infrastructure to facilitate future trade and investment.

Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan should prefer to appoint ambassadors who had a background in economics or business to promote economic diplomacy at much wider scale and with greater intensity. The existing ambassadors should be given proper training to pursue economic diplomacy while carrying out their diplomatic responsibilities. These ambassadors could work towards identifying opportunities for trade and investment and promoting Pakistani products and services abroad. He said that their performance evaluation shouldalso be linked with the positive change occurred in trade figures of Pakistan with the respective countries.

He said that by pursuing economic diplomacy, Pakistan could help create regional economic integration and promote peace and stability not within country but in the whole region. It would certainly improve Pakistan's international standing and influence. Ultimately, Pakistan could become a more attractive partner for other countries, which could help advance its foreign policy objectives.