Turkey for being the second fastest growing economy of the world after China has a lot to offer to their Pakistani counterparts through joint ventures, said Murat Agabay, leader of a four-member Turkish delegation, on Monday.
Speaking during a meeting with businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), he said the Turkish businessmen were keen to initiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts.
He called for exchange of business delegations so that both the sides could have first hand knowledge of the available opportunities in Pakistan and Turkey.
He said both the countries had huge untapped business potential that needed to be realised by maximizing the involvement of private sectors of the two countries.
LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said the businessmen of both the countries should enhance their bilateral relations which would be beneficial for the people of both sides.
He said the textile sector of Pakistan had traditionally been the biggest sector of the economy, adding in the context of having won the GSP plus status, the need of technology improvement and capacity building in textile sector of Pakistan was necessary and Turkey could help Pakistan in this regard.
Ijaz said Turkey was well positioned to take advantage of Pakistan’s economic potential and its geo-strategic location and added with regard to solid waste management, it was proposed that waste-to-energy solutions were gaining a lot of success in modern world.
He said Pakistan was facing severe crisis in energy sector and it was the best way to go for all possible options of alternative energy. He emphasized that some kind of understanding should be developed between the private sector representatives of both the countries that will certainly provide basis to convert that into business deals.
He said these practical steps would surely go a long way in enhancing the current level of two-way trade between Pakistan and Turkey which does not reflect the friendly relations.
He also called for B2B (Business to Business) meetings on regular basis in order to strengthen our business ties asserting that Turkey and Pakistan both were great attraction for tourists.
Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi also spoke on the occasion. Former LCCI president Bashir A Buksh, who is also Chairman of Puk-Turk Business Council, EC members- Waqar Ahmed Mian, Khawaja Khawar Rasheed, Raja Adeel Ashfaq, Khurram Lodhi, Tanzila Yousaf, Kamal Mahmood Amjad Mian, Rizwan Shamsi, Mian Muhammad Afzal and Sheikh Muhammad Fayyaz Ahmed were prominent amongst the others. Other members of the Turkish delegation were Huseyin Moralioglu, Mustafa Dundar and Osman Ozen.