Colombia eyes improved trade ties

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador designate of Colombia to Pakistan Juan Alfredo Pinto Saavedra Thursday said Colombia was interested to enhance trade relations with Islamabad and the best way to achieve this goal was to develop business linkages between the private sectors of both countries.

Alfredo said this while exchanging views with business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), a statement said. He said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Colombia was nominal and its main reason was lack of information on both sides about potential areas of mutual cooperation.

The envoy said that the chambers of commerce and industry of both countries should sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance B2B linkages to help explore possibilities to enhance bilateral cooperation in trade and economics.

He offered his cooperation to facilitate the signing of the MoU between the trade bodies of both countries. “As a first step, both countries must identify top 20 products for bilateral trade and then gradually expand the range of products to enhance the two way trade volume.” He said Colombia enjoyed a strategic location in North America and had signed 94 free trade agreements (FTAs) with regional countries. Thus, enhancing close cooperation with it would help Pakistan get better market access to the North American region.

ICCI president Khalid Iqbal Malik said the best option for Pakistan and Colombia to enhance bilateral trade was to encourage the frequent exchange of trade delegations to explore all areas of potential cooperation.

He said both countries should focus on organising single country exhibitions and participate in each other’s trade fairs, which would help promote trade relations. Malik said Colombia was producing more than 66 percent of its energy through hydropower and it should share its technology and expertise with Pakistan in this field.

He said Colombia was a major exporter of oil, coal, coffee, and flowers and both countries had the potential to cooperate in many areas, including agriculture, textiles, chemicals, minerals, gems and jewellery, technology transfer, and infrastructure development.