RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Engr Daroo Khan Achakzai has urged the government to materialise the agreement signed earlier this year for sending 100,000 Pakistani workers to Qatar for blue collar jobs.

He also said that the recent visit of Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will go a long way in promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Qatar. He said the visit would open new opportunities for enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

“Economic partnership between Pakistan and Qatar is expanding with the passage of time and had reached to US$9 billion, including $ 3 billion cash depositing in State Bank of Pakistan, $ 3 billion as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and $ 3 billion for other projects,” he said, adding that it would help steer Pakistan out of economic crisis.

The FPCCI president said that at present, the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Qatar stood at US$ 2.4 billion which is in favour of Qatar due to huge import of LNG during last two years.

He said that Pakistan has considered Qatar as one of its major export destinations and lucrative market where the volume of traditional exports such as textiles, fruits, carpets, footwear, sports goods, leather, furniture and especially surgical instruments could be increased by aggressive marketing and close interaction of business community and private sector.

Achakzai said that a vast potential exists for the two countries in agriculture, banking, aviation, finance, insurance, information technology, tourism, education, science, technology, etc, as both countries have signed and enforced Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and Double Taxation Treaty (DTT) agreements in 2009 which could help them in joint venture investments in both countries.

“The FPCCI will soon have a meeting with its Qatari counterpart to discuss various future economic activities between the private sector of the two countries, he said, adding that the FPCCI would also invite the latter in the Board of Directors meeting of Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) to be held in November 2019.