KARACHI – Uganda has planned to establish a warehouse at Kampala in order to facilitate access to Pakistani products. This would “open a gateway for Pakistan exporters and would also enhance trade ties between the two countries,” Uganda’s Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Mohamed Ahmed Kisuule remarked.
During his meeting with SITE Chairman Abdul Wahab Lakhani and Senior Vice Chairman Asad Nisar Barkhurdaria, the ambassador said that trade must be the corner stone of diplomatic relations and real potential of bilateral trade needs to be explored. Uganda would host SITE Association trade delegation for exploring business opportunities.
Dr Mohamed Ahmed Kisuule, on his part, told the meeting that his country needs cooperation and not assistance, at a time when a great potential for enhancing trade ties in the fields of light engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery tractors and textiles exists. Pakistan should take notice of those Pakistani products, being sold with Indian tags, he said. He invited businessmen to visit Uganda and capture the market, which is presently dominated by Indian businessmen.
In the welcome address, SITE Association of Industry Chairman Abdul Wahab Lakhani said that Pakistan considers Uganda as a close friend despite the geographical distance. Pakistani businessmen should also focus on the other landlocked African markets through Uganda, as a transit hub.
Wahab Lakhani said that Pakistan has added new products to its export basket, so that it could capture new export markets. He stated that this is the right time to focus on African markets and measures, for improving relations between Pakistan and the African region, must be implemented.
He said that the existing trade volume did not reflect the true potential between the two countries. Direct trade links between Pakistan and Uganda lack due to inadequate opportunities of interaction between the business communities of the two countries, he added.
He maintained that better communication between the chambers of commerce and various trade associations of both countries must be established. He stressed the need of greater interaction between the private sectors to boost the existing potential.
