Pakistan is a resource-rich and great country, but its biggest impediment in way of foreign direct investment is its perception, which needs to been focused upon in order to change their image in front of the outer world.
This was stated by the Ambassador of Oman Mohamed Said Mohamed Al-Lawati while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Saturday. LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh gave the welcome address, while LCCI Vice President Saeeda Nazar gave a set of suggestions as to how the two-way trade volume could be enhanced.
The ambassador said the government of Pakistan should evolve a well tailored marketing strategy to market its strengths in various sectors as a number of foreigners are desirous of putting their money here, but are unaware of the potential areas.
“Had a little attention been given, the investment scenario in this part of the world would have been quite encouraging.”
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh emphasised the need to expand trade and business relations between Pakistan and Oman as there is great potential for it in a number of sectors, particularly energy development.
LCCI president informed the Oman ambassador that despite a number of internal and external challenges being faced by the country, dynamism of the private sector has set Pakistan on a high growth trajectory.
He said Pakistan is located at the confluence of three vital regions – South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia – providing shortest access to the sea for all landlocked countries of Central Asia, as well as Western China. Being close to Gwadar, Oman can hugely benefit from this unique opportunity and explore multiple corridors of cooperation with Central Asia and Western China, especially in the fields of energy, trade, transportation and tourism, he said.
Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said Oman and Pakistan have a vital role to play for the cause of peace, harmony and development in this region. He said Oman has a rich experience in oil exploration; therefore, Omani companies can go for joint venture in exploration of oil in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan can provide manpower services in sectors, like education, health, engineering, construction, telecommunication, etc.
Both countries are moving ahead through various agreements on defence cooperation, business sectors, labour and manpower, etc. Pakistan-Oman Joint Investment Company which was established in order to enhance trade between Oman and Pakistan has got a great role to play.
Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said the trend of total trade between the two countries has been inconsistent. Some improvement in 2009 was witnessed, as our two-way trade figure grew from $393 to $417 million. But in 2010, it dropped to $297 million. The analysis of imports from Oman further confirms this inconsistency.
From 2008 to 2010, the imports were recorded as $101, $268 and $156 million, respectively. However, Pakistan’s exports to Oman are constantly dipping which is matter of concern. The exports stood $293 million in 2008 which fell to $149 million in 2009 and $141 million in 2010. Both Pakistan and Oman need to find out reasons of this decline in exports and at the same time should explore ways to improve the level of trade for bringing some consistency in growth of trade relations.
Pakistan’s major exports to Oman are cereals, meat, machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, electrical and electronic equipment, articles of textiles, organic chemicals, etc. Whereas, Pakistan imports mineral fuels, oils, plastics, copper, organic chemicals, fertilisers, iron and steel, etc.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Vice President Saeeda Nazar said the two-way trade volume could be enhanced through creating opportunities for the private sectors of both the countries to interact with each other on regular basis. By exchange of business delegations and holding of single country exhibitions on reciprocal basis, both countries can lead to cause a quantum leap in trade. LCCI former Senior Vice President Sheikh Mohammad Arshad, former Vice President Aftab Ahmad Vohra, EC Members Rehman Chan, Sh Mohammad Ayub, Yousaf Shah, Husnain Reza Mirza and Mahmood Ghaznavi were also present on the occasion.
