ISLAMABAD, October 28 (INP-WealthPK): Turkiye and Pakistan have a huge potential for bilateral trade and if effective steps are taken the mutual trade between the two countries could grow to more than USD 5 billion in the next couple of years. Turkiey and Pakistan have long-standing relations of trade, commerce and economic dependency.
The statement was made by the ambassador of Turkiye to Pakistan Dr Mehmet Pacaci while meeting a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) headed by the President of ICCI Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari. The meeting was also attended by the Commercial Counsellor of Turkiye Embassy Nurettin Demir, according to a press release issued forth by the Turkiye embassy and received by WealthPK.
The ambassador accepted the invitation of the ICCI to participate in the International Housing Expo in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing & Works being organized by the ICCI. He assured the delegation that he will personally see to it that Turkish companies in Pakistan participate in the expo. He also said that businessmen from Turkiye will also be invited to come to Pakistan and participate in the expo.
Mehmet Pacaci also said that “for trade to increase between the two countries the best route to use is the land bridge through Iran. But the problem with the land bridge is that Pakistan’s railway network is not of modern standards. Railway tracks of Pakistan are from the British era. They do not have the capacity to support the volume of trade of a globalized world. If road networks are developed trade could become cheaper but there are no effective roads to speak of.”
“Cooperation of both sides on all levels is important for trade to increase. All stakeholders should have a working relationship with their counterparts in Turkiye and Pakistan. In this way, conversation can be started on laying down road networks and upgrading the railway tracks. Turkiye can export its electric vehicles to Pakistan which meet the standards of cars built in the factories of Tesla,” he continued.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari thanked the ambassador for the help that Turkiye gave to Pakistan in times of its liquidity crises. He said that the low volume of trade between the two countries was saddening. Despite having brotherly relations of Pakistan with Turkiye, trade volume was less than USD 1 billion which was incredibly low. He said that both countries could benefit from the collaboration of the private sectors of the two countries.
“Trade between the two countries is heavily dependent on maritime routes. It takes 30 days for a cargo ship to make a trip between Turkiye and Pakistan. If road and railway networks are upgraded to modern standards, time taken for goods to travel to and from will be drastically reduced,” he continued. He also personally extended the invitation for housing expo to the Turkish ambassador to be held this December.
Bakhtawari also said that “ICCI intends to organize a Pak-Turk Business Forum in Islamabad. It will bring Pakistani and Turkish companies at one platform for B2B meetings. It will also develop business links in the areas of interest and I urge the Embassy of Turkiye to cooperate with ICCI in inviting head of MUSAID as the chief guest for the planned event.”
