Bosnian ambassador to Islamabad Dr Nedim Makarevic said on Saturday that his country could become a gateway to Pakistani textile, sports and surgical instruments for their export to Europe to the benefit of two countries.
“Bosnia Herzegovina offers you a gateway to the European Union,” he told APP in an exclusive interview.
He said Bosnia was considered a post-war country, so it did not have any quotas for its export of finished products which could be exported to Europe and the US. Bosnia did not pay an export tax on its products or it was very minimal, he said.
He said Germany was exporting Pakistani surgical instruments, would give it a finishing touch with chrome or otherwise and it would re-export it to Bosnia.
“Here is a great opportunity for Pakistani entrepreneurs in surgical instruments to set up their unit in Bosnia, label and export it to rest of Europe without facing any quota bars on the produce.
He urged the Pakistani private sector to open up and establish producing facilities of their items in Bosnia which can offer them a gateway to Europe and the margin of profit is quite attractive as well.
He said Pakistani businessmen who are producing surgical instruments, sports wears or textiles, need to establish facilities in Bosnia to export their half-finished products to Bosnia, finish these products in Bosnia, and then sky is the limit, said the young Bosnia ambassador.
Questioned whether by doing that, Pakistani businessmen would not be reducing their margin of profit, Dr Nedim said despite being reduced, the profit would still be lucrative for them.
Giving an example, he said that 1 Kg of mango was $6 dollars in Bosnia while 1 kg mango here is $1. So even if they paid triple the price on transportation of mangoes from Karachi to Bosnia, the margin would still be double.
Similarly Pakistani Jeans, sports wears are needed in Bosnia as it was a football nation. Similarly cloth sheets, towels, pillows and Pakistani Jeans can reap them good profit.
Talking of the tourism industry, he said, Bosnia received one million tourists hence three is a great potential for opening good hotels and Pakistani businessmen already doing roaring business in the sector could capitalize on it for expanding commercial ties between the two countries.
He said his country had privatized its entire industry first to Kuwaitis but they could not manage it well so they resold it to Mittal of India which had invested over one billion dollars in Bosnia.
“Pakistani businessmen need to be aggressive in their approach and should not shy of taking risk. There is a huge opportunity in Bosnia if they establish producing units of textile, sports goods and textile the fields Pakistanis have years of experience and are already in the market,” he said.
He said trade between the two countries has increased 50 per cent but even then the figure is too small to be mentioned as there is a great potential of bolstering commercial ties between the two countries. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the level of bilateral trade, Dr Nedim said it needs to be increased much more.
Explaining the factors behind poor trade between the two sides, he said, given the distance with Pakistan, Bosnia was concentrating more on the European Union, North America and to a few Gulf countries.
Then there are security issues in Pakistan which is of concern to businessmen, he said, while supporting Islamabad’s action to terminate terrorism.
Pakistani businessmen, he said, had preferred to invest overseas in property and that too mostly in the UK and Gulf but not in set up production units abroad.
He opined that Pakistanis are not an investor nation although there are huge opportunities in Bosnia. The envoy said during Sarajevo Business Forum meetings, all projects and investment facilities were discussed between the two countries.
He said his embassy was ready to provide any information to the interested investors and he had been meeting representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot detailing them about the investment opportunities available in his country.
