By By our correspondent
Ambassador of Czech Republic in Pakistan Pavol Sepelak stated this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday. The ambassador said that Czech companies were already participating in the construction of two power plants in Balloki and Muridke and were also making investment for development in the gas sector. In agriculture field, a factory for bio-fertilisers was being constructed by the Czech Republic.
“Pakistan already has good access to European markets and during the Czech’s EU presidency we outlined a new comprehensive package of measures and incentives to gradually build up trade relationship and boost and diversify exports of Pakistan.
“We are also exploring options available under the EU preferential access schemes such as GSP-plus and Free Trade Agreement. The EU is actually running a programme of technical assistance called TRTA (Trade-related Technical Assistance) whose aim is to strengthen export capacity of Pakistani companies.”
He said there is a need to work together in order to identify possible fields of cooperation and to provide proper information to business communities of both sides. He said a number of potential investors from the Czech Republic are planning to visit Pakistan to have first-hand knowledge about available business opportunities.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry said that the current level of trade between Pakistan and Czech Republic calls for more concrete steps on both sides and foremost among them is the exchange of information.
He agreed with the Czech envoy that there is a huge potential of trade that exists between Czech Republic and Pakistan, provided aggressive marketing is done by both the countries. Frequent exchange of business delegations and holding single country exhibitions can be instrumental in raising trade and investment between the two countries.
He hoped that the investment made by the Czech Republic in medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and textiles in Pakistan would cater to the demands of a much expanded market of Central Asian States, Gulf countries, EU and USA.