Turkey would open its consulate in Lahore very soon to facilitate businessmen of the provincial capital of Punjab.
This was revealed in a meeting between the 12-member Turkish delegation and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Ijaz A Mumtaz at the LCCI on Friday.
Pakistan Turkey Business Association Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sadi Yildirir and head of Turkish delegation Tevfik Ayhan also spoke on the occasion.
The LCCI president threw light on the economic scenario and trade and investment opportunities available in Pakistan. He also forwarded various proposals to boost the two-way trade.
Former LCCI President Bashir A. Baksh and Executive Committee members were also present on the occasion.
Sadi Yildirir informed the participants that Lahore to Istanbul direct flight would start from August 15 on daily basis. He said that another Turkish delegation will visit Pakistan in the third week of August while the country had been planning a single country exhibition in collaboration with the LCCI.
He said that Turkish businessmen are keen to step in joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts in the fields of printing, security systems, building materials, construction services and textiles.
“Pakistan businessmen should come forward and avail the opportunity to the maximum,” he added.
He said that both countries could have firsthand knowledge of the trade and investment opportunities through exchange of trade delegation on regular basis.
He said that Turkey and Pakistan have marvelous untapped business potential that needs to be realised by maximising the involvement of private sectors of the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI president hoped that the economic relation between the two countries would strengthen further to create a win-win situation for the both countries.
“We need to make collective efforts to reverse the present trend in bilateral trade. Pakistan’s exports are constantly dropping since 2011 when it was maximum with $ 756 million. In 2013, Pakistan exported to the tune of $ 407 million to Turkey but last year the value of total exports came further down to $ 391 million,” he added.
“So far as imports from Turkey to Pakistan are concerned, these have been ranging between $ 150 million to $ 190 million,” he further said. “Considering the size of both the economies, these trade figures seem quite dismal. We must find ways to take the bilateral trade to at least $ 1 billion in coming three to four years”, Mumtaz concluded.
tyle=’font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: “Times New Roman”,”serif”‘>Punjab spends around 100 billion on health, education and social sector, however, this also includes adolescents and youth, and thus child specific budget is lessened further. This situation shows that children are not a priority for the government and in fact a bright and prosperous future can’t be fulfilled without spending on protection and prosperity of children.
“Limited budget allocation for child development reflects a lack of seriousness on the part of the government and its efforts to meet constitutional and international commitments to effectively protect and promote children rights in the country,” states the report.
Democratic Commission for Human Development Spokesperson and Executive Director Tanveer Jahan said that the government aspires for provincial autonomy but its priority is neither children nor poor.
Renowned economist Qais Aslam said that it seems that to spend on children is not government’s priority, that is why the nation is far behind in achieving MDGs and couldn’t eradicate polio completely.
In spite of civil war and dismal conditions in Syria and Algeria, not even a single polio case had been reported since last one year. He further said that provinces do not spend on important budget heads like debts or defense as it is case with federal budget.
“So this budget after 18th amendment must have been spent on social and development sectors,” he added.
He further pointed out that a large amount of budget is under spent, as a routine practice. He said that policy makers should be held accountable for such discrepancies.
