Punjab May Lead Mutual Trade To US $ 01b: Uzbek Envoy

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Ambassador of Uzbekistan Oybek Arif Usmanov has said that only province of Punjab can have one billion Dollar trade volume with Uzbekistan. Out of combine mutual trade between the two countries, 60 to 70 percent consists with Punjab.

He expressed these views while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Wednesday. Trade and Economic Counselor, Embassy of Uzbekistan Bakhrom Yusupov, Honorary Counsel General Najeeb Mushtaq Vohra, LCCI Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Ch, Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt, Executive Committee Members Ahmad Elahi, Raja Hassan Akhter, Mian Atiqur Rehman and Ejaz Tanvir were also present.

The Ambassador said that since last four years, the trade between Uzbekistan and Pakistan has increased 50 to 60 percent on average. Since last year the bilateral trade volume increased from US $ 300 to 400 million which shows the potential of growth and regional connectivity between Central Asia and Pakistan.

He said that a road map of industrial cooperation has been presented to the government of Pakistan to enhance mutual investment and to provide good platform, tools to increase joint ventures in both the countries.

The Ambassador said it is encouraging to see that Pakistani companies are coming to Uzbekistan and Uzbek companies are already keen to invest in electrical and agri machines sector of Pakistan.

He said that increase in trade volume is also due to efforts, services and dedication of Lahore Consulate headed by Honorary Counselor Najeeb Mushtaq Vohra.

The Ambassador said that both the countries need R&D in diversified products like cotton, garments, agri products, chemicals, food products, leather, electro technical and textile.

He said that from May 2, 2024, an international forum is being held in Tashkent and invited LCCI President along with a delegation to participate. He also invited LCCI members to participate in 'Made in Pakistan' single country exhibition starting from June 28 to 30 in Tashkent to display their products.

The Ambassador also said that the transport companies of both the countries are doing a great job in increasing the trade volume with mutual consent of both the countries, the driving permits are increased from 500 to 3,000 this year. He added that Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan Railway Project, which is 677 KM long railway line starting from Tabriz to Pakistan. The feasibility of the project will be finalized in two months.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Uzbekistan is an important economy in Central Asia, in line with the Government of Pakistan’s “Vision Central Asia” Policy which is based on the five pillars of bilateral cooperation i.e. political, trade & investment, energy & connectivity, security & defence and people-to-people contacts.

He mentioned that a trade deal of US $ 01 billion was signed between the two countries last year to increase bilateral trade. The deal was sealed at the 8th meeting of the Pakistan-Uzbekistan Inter-governmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation (IGC) held in Tashkent.

The commission mainly focused on bilateral economic cooperation in various sectors, including commerce and trade, banking, industries and production, investment, textile industry, energy, oil and natural resources, transportation and communication, agriculture and tourism and culture development. "We pin high hopes with this agreement".

The LCCI President said that Pakistan and Uzbekistan have already signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in 2022 and Transit Trade Agreement in 2021. He hoped that these agreements will take full effect and help to take the bilateral trade volume to at least 1 billion dollars. It is pertinent to mention that the bilateral trade volume stood at around 94 million Dollars in 2022-23.

He added that the global exports of Uzbekistan comprise mainly of gold, cotton yarn, copper, petroleum gas and polymers of ethylene etc. Uzbekistan can become a good supplying market for the raw materials in Pakistan.

Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan’s exports to Uzbekistan mainly consist of edible fruit, rice and pharmaceuticals etc., while our imports from Uzbekistan are vegetables, cotton and zinc etc. The potential areas where Pakistan and Uzbekistan can enhance trade and economic ties are agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textile, leather, chemicals, renewable energy and information technology etc. Tourism and logistics are other potential sectors where there is an immense scope for Joint Ventures, he added.

He said that increasing the frequency of direct flights, strengthening banking channels, organizing trade delegations and holding single country exhibitions on reciprocal basis would prove to be effective in opening new avenues that are much needed for enhancing the mutual trade relations. Improving Rail and Air connectivity is important to achieve the desired goals of enhancing bilateral trade volume. In this connection, the linking of Uzbekistan with Pakistan through Trans-Afghan Railway Project is very crucial, he added.

The LCCI President added that there is a great opportunity for Uzbekistan to avail the facility of Pakistani seaports and the tremendous opportunities under CPEC. It is worth mentioning that Pakistani seaports offer the most efficient and shortest economic route for Central Asian countries to the markets in middle East and beyond.

He mentioned about the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) established by the Government of Pakistan to primarily focus on expediting new investments in five areas including Defence, Agriculture, Minerals, Information Technology / Telecommunication and Energy. "We hope that you would apprise the investors from Uzbekistan about these investment opportunities in Pakistan under SIFC," he added.

He said that the Government of Punjab is making all out efforts to improve doing business in the province by facilitating international and national investors through one window operations in the Business Facilitation Centre.