http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...5-2-2006_pg5_4
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
President to address Business Forum in Beijing on 21st
BEIJNG: President Pervez Musharraf will address the Pak-China Business Forum in Beijing on Feb 21.
Besides representatives of prominent Chinese companies, a delegation of Pakistani businessmen will also attend the forum. It will be an important event, to be held during the president's state visit starting from Feb 19, to promote economic interaction and seek more Chinese investment in the country, said an official of the Pakistan embassy here on Tuesday.
The president is also expected to meet chief executives of some prominent Chinese companies to discuss future prospects of greater economic cooperation at the private and public sectors' levels.
The forum is being arranged by the Pakistan embassy in collaboration with the China's Enterprises Confederation and the All China Federation of Industries and Commerce.
According to the sources, the forum will help to undertake new joint ventures in textile, energy, communication and mineral sectors. Negotiations to this effect are under way.
Several Chinese companies have shown interest in developing economic collaboration on a fast track.
About 60 companies have established permanent offices in Pakistan that reflects their growing interest in strengthening economic relations. Efforts are being made to establish a Pak-China Joint Investment Company for investing in strategic projects.
The trade sector is attracting top priority and the two sides are taking all possible steps to bring it on a par with their excellent diplomatic ties. The bilateral trade volume has already reached $4.26 billion, showing steady growth in their economic relations in recent years.
Compared with $3.06 billion between January-December, 2004, the trade turnover jumped to $4.26 billion during the same period in 2005, according to the figures released by the Chinese Customs Authority.
Pakistan's exports to China have also shown an upward trend, registering an increase of about 39.2 percent last year.
The exports amounted to $832 million from January to December, 2005. Whereas it was $594 million in the same period a year ago. Therefore, the increase in Pakistan's exports to China in a period of one year amounted to about $238 million.
The Customs Authority's sources told APP that the bilateral trade had been enjoying fast growth since 2000 and Pakistan had grown into China's major trade partner in South Asia.
The two countries have taken a number of steps that have boosted their bilateral trade during the past three years. Among them was signing of the Early Harvest Programme (EHP) that brightens the hope of taking the trade volume to about $8 billion by 2008.
The ongoing negotiation for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would further consolidate bilateral trade relations, said Xu Changwen, a trade researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Co-operation, a think-tank under the Chinese ministry of commerce.
"Pakistan hopes to attract more investment from China with the stable growth of its domestic economy," said Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Salman Bashir. He hoped that the two countries would sign important agreements during the forthcoming visit of President Pervez Musharraf.
About the future economic opportunities in China, Commercial Counsellor at Pakistan embassy Shahid Mahmood said Pakistani businessmen should concentrate on exporting value-added textile products, including cotton fabrics, manmade fabric, home textile and towels.
The Chinese growing market also provides them wide opportunities to enhance their export in non-traditional items such as sport and engineering goods, handicrafts, marble, onyx, jewelry and agro-based products.
An official of the Chinese commerce ministry suggested that a maximum number of Pakistani businessmen should visit China to explore new openings in the trade sector. They could attract more business by opening their representative offices in major cities of China such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Urumqi and Shenzen.
He noted that leaderships of the two countries had now been paying greater attention to promoting economic diplomacy to exploit the existing deep-rooted traditional diplomatic ties for the economic uplift of their peoples. app