RECORDER REPORT
LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday celebrated “Australia Day” at a prestigious cake-cutting ceremony that was also attended by the Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ms. Margaret Adamson.
The participants including LCCI President Abdul Basit, Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and various others spoke on the occasion and pledged to strengthen cordial relations between the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, Australian High Commissioner said that Australia and Pakistan are strategic partners enjoying long-standing cordial relations that have built on strong business-to-business and people-to-people connections.
Australia and Pakistan should actively explore new avenues to expand trade and investment as both countries have significant prospects to grow bilateral trade and investment, she said. Pakistan could avail Australian expertise in various economic sectors, she said.
She called for frequent exchange of business-related delegations so that both the sides could have first-hand knowledge of the available opportunities. Pakistani goods are best in the world and have good potential in the Australian market. Pakistani businessmen, therefore, should focus on joint ventures with their Australian counterparts, she added.
LCCI President Abdul Basit said that a businessmen delegation from Australia visited Lahore Chamber in last April accompanied by the diplomats from Consulate General of Pakistan in Sydney. Afterwards, the representatives of Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Canberra, Australia came to Lahore Chamber to discuss matters of mutual concerns.
He informed the Australian High Commissioner that a business delegation from Lahore Chamber went to Australia during last month to attend Halal Expo 2017 in Sydney. He said the balance of trade has been in favour of Australia but it is a matter of concern for us that the gap between imports and exports is expanding year by year.
There is an upward trend in bilateral trade but these trade figures do not match the actual potential of trade. The trade potential between two countries could be more than $2 billion for which both public and private sectors have to make joint efforts, he said. “From 2014 to 2015, the two-way trade surged from US $504 million to $714 million.”
