Karachi Chamber Of Commerce And Industry Invited To Send Business Delegation To Sri Lanka

Consul General of Sri Lanka, G. L. Gnanatheva, while suggesting numerous measures for enhancing trade and investment ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has invited Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry to send a delegation to Sri Lanka to explore trade and investment opportunities, and to discuss ways with Lankan business community for strengthening economic ties

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Nov, 2019 ) :Consul General of Sri Lanka, G. L. Gnanatheva, while suggesting numerous measures for enhancing trade and investment ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has invited Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry to send a delegation to Sri Lanka to explore trade and investment opportunities, and to discuss ways with Lankan business community for strengthening economic ties.

He was speaking at a meeting with members of KCCI during his visit to the chamber. President KCCI Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Senior Vice President Arshad islam, Vice President Shahid Ismail and Managing Committee members attended the meeting, said a KCCI press release on Friday.

He stressed that the business communities of Pakistan and Sri Lanka will have to make collective efforts to improve the trade volume by exploring more trade opportunities and defining a clear roadmap for growth in trade, investment and exports.

Sri Lankan Consul General said Pakistan and Sri Lanka had been enjoying good relations and were undoubtedly the best partners.

Sri Lanka had the honor of being the first country to sign a free trade agreement with Pakistan, he added.

Referring to recent visit of Sri Lankan cricket team to Pakistan, he said that they absolutely had no problems during their stay and the team would once again will be here to play the test matches.

Gnanatheva said Sri Lanka offers a lot of trade and investment opportunities as the country had producing some high-end products being exported to many developed western countries. Sri Lanka' had signed FTAs with many countries around the world, he added.

He said the business community of Karachi must look into the possibility of enhancing trade and investment ties with Sri Lanka which could be used as a gateway to Europe, United States, United Kingdom and Canada etc. where Pakistani goods would also have a duty free access if sent via Sri Lanka.

President KCCI Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan said that both countries shared cordial and healthy bilateral relations based on cooperation in different economic spheres.

"During 2018, goods exported by Pakistan to Sri Lanka totalled $ 354.53 million as against $268.92 million in 2017, depicting an increase of 31.8 percent . And, the goods imported by Pakistan from Sri Lanka were recorded at $04.96 million in 2018, registering a growth of 1.6 percent as compared to $103.35 million in 2017. Although some improvement had been witnessed yet the overall trade volume was way too low as compared to the potential which required collective efforts from both sides", he added.