Wijewickrama Sees Tangible Results From PM's Visit To Sri Lanka

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2021 ) :High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama on Wednesday hoped that recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Sri Lanka would help give a quantum jump to the bilateral trade.

He was talking to business community here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry, where LCCI Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, former Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Executive Committee Members Haji Muhammad Asif Seher, Shehzad Butt, Shahid Nazir, Dr. Riaz Ahmad, Zeshan Sohail Malik and Wasif Yousaf also were present.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner said that a number of Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) had been signed during the Pakistani Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka that would pave way to boost the mutual trade and cement the economic ties.

He said that both the countries had historical social, political and trade relations but mutual trade does not reflect potential of the two countries. He said that joint ventures between the private sectors of the two countries would be welcomed.

He said that both countries should avail full benefit from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He said that Pakistan should increase import of best quality Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka.

LCCI Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka had historically enjoyed great relations which date back to the formative years of two countries. Both the countries were also members of SAARC and enjoying friendly relations. He said that despite the excellent relations, the bilateral trade volume had yet to surpass 500 million dollars.

Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry said that in 2018, the volume of bilateral trade peaked by reaching 462 million Dollars but it slipped to 389 million dollars in 2019 due to 9 per cent decline in exports and 38 per cent decline in imports.

He said that in 2019, Pakistan's exports to Sri Lanka were worth 324 million dollars while the imports were to the tune of 65 million dollars. He said that the exports to Sri Lanka consisted of woven fabrics of cotton, cement, potato, pharmaceuticals and maize etc. whereas the imports comprised vegetables, fibre board, natural rubber and copra etc.

"We attach a lot of hopes with recent visit of Prime Minister of Pakistan to Sri Lanka which can turn into a strategic partnership. PM has also invited his counterpart to join China Pakistan Economic Corridor," the LCCI Vice President said and added that during the meetings of two Prime Ministers and the respected delegates, there were various important areas including tourism, education, defense, information technology and investment which came under discussion to find ways for enhancing cooperation. It was also agreed to work towards broadening of Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement during high profile meetings.

He hoped that this visit would bring fruitful outcomes in the form of further strengthened diplomatic & bilateral trade relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The LCCI Vice President said that there is a considerable demand in Sri Lanka for products like light engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, surgical instruments, auto parts, industrial raw materials and plastic goods etc. Pakistan has the capacity of enhancing the exports of these items to Sri Lanka.

He said that business communities of two countries should keep on exploring the opportunities of mutual interest. Business delegations composed of sector-specific participants or product-specific groups of entrepreneurs should be organized regularly by the leading chambers of commerce from both sides.