Kazakhstan seeks more textile imports from Pakistan, offers $2 billion market

LAHORE: Kazakhstan is looking for more textile imports from Pakistan, which has a huge potential to tap into the Central Asian country’s $2 billion textile market, its ambassador said on Monday.

Yerzhan Kistafin, who led a delegation of Kazakh businessmen to hold meetings with All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations (APTMA) in Lahore, said Pakistan’s current contribution to Kazakhstan’s textile imports is almost negligible. He urged Pakistani textile groups to focus on high value products which are more in demand in Kazakhstan.

“Concrete steps are being taken from the government of Kazakhstan and Pakistan to enhance bilateral trade and benefit from mutual potentials,” he said, adding that a delegation of Kazak businessmen has been invited to Pakistan for holding Business to Business (B2B) meetings with the APTMA.

The visiting Kazak envoy was accompanied by First Secretary Olzhas Tobyshakov and a couple of leading Kazak businessmen. The delegation members held meetings with Pakistani counterparts from the textile industry to devise strategies for taking exports to various destinations around the world, including Kazakhstan.

Those who held business meetings with Kazak delegation included Asad Shafi from Cross Stitch, Aamir Abdulla from Sapphire Denim, Mujtaba from Lama Retail, Faisal Shakeel from Umar Group, Rizwan Shafi from Cresset Bahuman and representatives from the US Apparel.

Meetings between the two sides continued throughout Monday in the presence of the Kazak ambassador. The visiting envoy said the two countries had already signed numerous agreements, including an agreement on Income Tax Convention and Final Protocol.

Similarly, he said, an agreement has been signed between the State Bank of Pakistan and the National Bank of Kazakhstan for cooperation in banking. "Establishment of bilateral relations in the field of Urban Economic Management between CDA Islamabad and Akimat of Astana of the Republic of Kazakhstan is another important agreement signed between the countries in the past," he added.

So far as bilateral investment agreements are concerned, the abbassador said, both the sides have signed a protocol of bilateral negotiations for accession of Kazakhstan to the WTO besides an agreement on Cooperation between Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the two countries, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a Joint Business Council between the Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce.

He invited the APTMA delegation to the 12th Inter-government Joint Commission meeting to be held in Kazakhstan from 20-25 December.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman APTMA highlighted the problems in bilateral trade with Kazakhstan, saying that the issues confronting bilateral trade included logistic issues, obtaining and using Letters of Credit (LC) in trade with Kazakhstan, language barriers in labeling the goods in Kazakh or Russian language, difficulties in land route due to security situation in Afghanistan, delay in signing of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and a delay in completion of trans Afghan railway line.

He said there is a need for strengthening of banking channels between Pakistan and Kazakhstan, an early signing of PTA, utilization of OIC, ECO, and Shanghai trade cooperation platforms for expansion of bilateral trade, joint investment in the textile industry and establishment of joint ventures.