‘Trade relations moving forward with Brazil’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Brazil have moved forward in deepening relations in all the fields, especially in commerce and trade, an official said on Monday.

“A number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and agreements had already been signed between the two countries and several are being finalised by the two sides,” said Mohammad Younus Dagha, federal secretary commerce, after concluding his two-day official visit to Brazil.

In a message received from Brazil, the commerce secretary expressed satisfaction at the outcome of his substantial and meaningful meetings with the high Brazilian government officials and said that the two sides looked into ways and means to increase bilateral trade and investment for the mutual benefit of the people of both the countries.

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Brazil has increased over the last four years by 100 percent from $225 million in 2013/14 to $449 million in 2016/17.

Presently, Pakistan has a negative trade balance with Brazil amounting to negative $359 million in FY17 with exports of $44.5 million and imports of $404 million.

Pakistan’s main exports to Brazil included apparel, home textiles, surgical goods, cotton fabrics and yarn, articles of cutlery and sports goods, whereas its imports are soybean, raw cotton, iron and steel, soybean oil and machinery.

Brazilian Secretary General Marcos Galvao warmly welcomed the visit of the commerce secretary and termed it a timely decision.

He expressed the hope for frequent high-level interaction between the two countries. Both the sides reviewed bilateral relations in trade and investment.

Referring to the ongoing cooperation between the two friendly countries, the Brazilian secretary general stressed the need for early finalisation of bilateral agreements such as agreement on technical cooperation and establishment of a joint commission.

Dagha also underlined the importance of early start of negotiations on Pakistan’s preferential trade agreement (PTA) with MERCOSUR.

The secretary general said MERCOSUR partners could appropriately engage Pakistan as the forum, which is now looking forward to interact with the countries outside South America to promote trade and investment relations.

During a meeting with Undersecretary General Ambassador Santiago Mourao, the two sides took stock of matters concerning technical cooperation, trade and investment, while exploring ways and means to further deepen cooperation between the two countries.

The need to have productive and synergised interaction in providing a framework to the private sector for enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations was also emphasised.

During the meeting with his counterpart from the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, Paulo Pedrosa, Pakistan’s commerce secretary offered profitable and secured investment to the Brazilian businessmen in Pakistan.

Various investment opportunities available in the energy sector, ranging from generation, transmission to exploitation of sources of clean renewable energy also came under discussion.

Both the sides also agreed to collaborate closely in mines and energy sectors; learn from each other’s experiences; share technological expertise; and explore possibility of investment in relevant sectors.