FPCCI sees huge export potential in Asia-Pacific

KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has said that Asia-Pacific countries are collectively a huge market for Pakistani exporters – be it trade in goods, export of services, or human resources.

FPCCI president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh highlighted that while speaking on the occasion of 36th Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

“Enormity of the export potential lies in the fact that one billion people are in the workforce of the 25 countries under CACCI and have a very vibrant middle-class; which is the true engine of consumption through their purchasing power,” he said.

It is pertinent to note that Asia-Pacific is a dynamic and geographically vast set of regions including, East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Pacific Islands.

“We should study and explore the untapped potential in both conventional and unconventional sectors,” Sheikh added.

FPCCI chief felicitated the newly-elected president of CACCI, Peter McMullin; who is also a former president of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Australia.

He added that he was hopeful to exchange bilateral and multilateral trade delegations with CACCI member states in the near future as “Pakistan will able to play a more proactive role,” he said.

Khurram Tariq Sayeed, who is also a former vice president (VP) FPCCI, has been elected VP of CACCI.

Sheikh was of the view that trade remained a missing component of Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth as around 30 percent the world’s GDP was based on trade.

“It takes all the more importance in our peculiar case as we import more than double what we export. On top of that, we have not been able to stabilise Pak rupee. This double whammy has broken all records of inflation in the country,” he said.