Turkish Businessmen express keen interest in investment in Pakistan
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LAHORE: (APP) A 25-member delegation of Turkish Businessmen Association TUMSIAD Tuesday showed keen interest in joint ventures with Pakistani businessmen in the fields of construction, information technology, energy and pharmaceutical sectors.
The delegation, led by Yasar Dorgon, was talking to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan here at LCCI, while former LCCI President Bashir A Baksh, Executive Committee Members Awais Piracha, Shahid Nazir, Mian Zahid Jawaid, Ali Hussam, Syed Mukhtar Ali, former EC member Zafar Mahmood and former Vice President Saeeda Nazar also spoke on the occasion.
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Head of the Turkish delegation said that Turkish businessmen were looking for business partners in Pakistan, adding that Turkey and Pakistan had a lot of potential to give boost to mutual trade.
Nasir Hameed Khan said that Pakistan and Turkey were considered important members of OIC and both countries had long historical ties. Lahore Chamber, he said, was fully aware of the significance of these relations and believes in making continuous efforts to work on the agenda of establishing closer and deeper ties with Turkish business community.
"We patronise Turkey Pakistan Business Council and also collaborate with different forums like TUMSIAD, TUSDEC and Pakistan Turkey Business Association etc," he mentioned.
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He said Pakistan's exports were constantly dropping since 2011 when their worth touched the peak of dollar 756 million. From 2013 to 2015, Pakistan exports kept falling from dollar 407 million to dollar 391 million and lastly dollar 235 million respectively. The worth of total imports made by Turkey in 2015 was dollar 207 billion and if we determine the share of Pakistan, it was virtually negligible. The imports of Pakistan from Turkey were also not picking up as their total value in 2015 was just dollar 205 million. "We must find ways to take the bilateral trade to at least dollar one billion in coming two to three years," he maintained.
Although Turkish delegates were mainly interested to see possibilities of match-making in areas of construction, IT, energy, furniture, sports equipment, foods, jewelry and light engineering etc. but there were many other fields in which trade cooperation could be expanded.
