Pakistan and the UAE are working on a new “economic roadmap” to boost bilateral trade volume and establish joint ventures between the two nations’ businesses and chambers of commerce, Arab News quoted senior officials in a news report.
“We want to establish a new economic roadmap with the UAE for enhancing bilateral trade, manufacturing through joint ventures, alliances, and exchange of services,” said the President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan.
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Last week, Khan met with the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Alzaabi. Regarding the meeting, he notified that the main focus was on finding ways to enhance bilateral trade and establish alliances and joint ventures in different sectors.
We have only $14 billion bilateral trade, which is much less than actual potential,” Khan said. He further added, “Both the countries have potential in multiple things like hospitality, retail, services, and manufacturing. We are working to find the missing areas so that we can fill those gaps to boost bilateral trade.”
He also said that many international brands based in UAE were not present in Pakistan, so both sides could collaborate to bring them here.
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Earlier, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, said that there was “good” potential to enhance trade between Pakistan and UAE. He further added that the Pakistani businesses need to be more aggressive with marketing their products in the UAE. Sharing his views on the matter, he said, “We have got to get into a strategic alliance with UAE so that the Emirates must look to Pakistan for their food security.”
The adviser noted that Pakistan’s industry is weak in its certifications of halal food items, fruits, and vegetables. “We are pursuing this issue with our exporters and once they will understand the importance of certification, Pakistani exports will go up especially in [the] Gulf market,” Dawood said.
