TDAP aims at $1bln exports by utilising FTA with Sri Lanka

KARACHI: Pakistan aims at $1 billion exports to Sri Lanka in the next few years by utilising Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Rabiya Javeri Agha, secretary of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), said in a statement on Tuesday.

The authority has estimated that Pakistan’s exports to Sri Lanka will be doubled this year from $267 million to $500 million.

The TDAP is a government body responsible for promoting exports and it is aiming to fully utilise the FTA, she said.

The FTA came into effect in 2005. However, the two countries were unable to utilise it to its potential. “By effectively using the duty concessions under the FTA, Pakistan can easily double its exports to Sri Lanka in a year’s time,” she said.

The TDAP has given priority to certain sectors where Pakistan has the potential to multiply its exports. “Our next target will be to increase exports to $1 billion within a few more years,” she added.

Pakistan has only utilised 29 percent of the FTA concessions so far; therefore, its target is to utilise the FTA first by exporting those products that have huge demand in Sri Lanka.

The statement has been issued in connection with the Pakistan single country exhibition organised by the TDAP in Sri Lanka, which will be held in Colombo from January 15 to 17.

The TDAP has prioritised sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at the exhibition.

Exhibitors from over 110 Pakistani companies will participate in the single country exhibition, the statement said.

Engineering and agro sectors are participating with major number of exhibitors along with manufacturers of furniture, marble and onyx ware, carpets and kilims, as well as apparel and handicrafts.

Javeri Agha said that the authority is excited to host the exhibition and would showcase the best manufacturing capability of Pakistan.

“This is a joint effort for both the countries to establish connections between the business communities,” she said.

Sri Lanka mainly exports textile products, while it imports bedwear, trousers, silk and synthetic textiles and other readymade garments. Pakistan’s exports are slowly growing and it can further increase its share, the TDAP secretary said.

“It is time Pakistan needs to move from traditional cotton cloth to value-added garments to increase its exports. Moreover, the engineering sector has a huge potential among top-25 products that Sri Lanka imports and Pakistan exports,” she added.

High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka H.E. Maj Gen Syed Shakeel Hussain (Retd) in his remarks said that Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in South Asia.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the balance of trade between the two countries is in favour of Pakistan, as the country’s exports to Sri Lanka amounted to $267 million as compared to $58 million imports from Sri Lanka.  Of the total $267 million exports to Sri Lanka during the last fiscal year, $89 million, or 33 percent, constituted only cotton cloth – a traditional Pakistani export item.

The second and third top exported items to Sri Lanka were cement ($37 million) and pharmaceuticals ($20 million).

Other mentionable products were vegetables, rice, value-added textiles, bedwear and other commodities.

The TDAP’s single country exhibition is a joint effort of both the countries to establish connections between the business communities that have been one of the top hindrances in the way of bilateral trade.

Pakistan’s exports to Sri Lanka grew from $154 million in 2004 to $316 million in 2013, an increase of 105 percent in nine years. Pakistan only accounted for 1.7 percent of the total Sri Lankan imports from the world in 2013.