Spanish envoy for organising single country expos

FAISALABAD: Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Spain stands around one billion dollars and we must take concrete steps to exploit its untapped potential by encouraging frequent exchange of trade delegations and organising single country exhibitions in each other countries, said Carlos Morales, ambassador of Spain.

During a meeting with vice president Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) Usman Rauf; Chairman Diplomatic Affairs and Foreign Trade Delegation Committee Engineer Sohail Bin Rasheed and executive member Jawad Asghar, he told that Pakistan’s exports had recorded a phenomenal increase of 44 percent immediately after the grant of GSP Plus status to Pakistan by the European Union (EU) in 2014. He said mainly Pakistani exports were restricted to textile, hence Pakistan should diversify its export base to further increase the exports particularly in IT and food sectors.

He told that European countries, including Spain, have developed their agriculture sector which has now been declared as an industry. “Pakistan produces a large number of agricultural products but it lacks processing and value-addition.

Pakistan has a potential to develop its agricultural and livestock sector to give a boost to its exports, however, for this purpose efficient food processing is imperative,” he added.

Morales said he will visit Faisalabad in the middle of July to personally review the investment opportunities in this city. He also welcomed a proposal of the FCCI to send a trade delegation to Spain and assured of fully facilitating them in addition to arranging their meeting with their Spanish counterparts.

Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Usman Rauf said Faisalabad was the third largest city of Pakistan and second in revenue generation.

He told that the FCCI has 6,000 members within its fold and most of them belong to the textile sector but other sectors are also contributing their due share in the overall economic growth of Pakistan.

Engineer Sohail Bin Rasheed requested the Spanish ambassador to help Pakistan in technology transfer and launching joint ventures in agriculture sector. “Pakistan is the major producer of milk, meat, vegetables and fruits which can be used to produce a chain of other high value food products,” he suggested.