LAHORE: A six-member Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry delegation headed by its President Shahzad Ali Malik Monday left for a 12-day visit to South Korea, China and Vietnam with an objective to bolster foreign investment and further strengthen bilateral trade relations.Meeting with top KORAIL management for securing locomotives for SheikhupuraDryPort, visit to Eui Wang Inland Container Depot, tour of Locomotive Maintenance and Central Railway Traffic Centre in Seoul and Business-to-Business meetings at Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry after talks with South Korean Business leaders are the main features of LCCI delegation visit to South Korea.The delegation comprising LCCI Executive Committee Member Khawaja Khawar Rashid, former EC member Mohammad Amjad Chaudhry, Shahzaib Gull Vohra, Shamim Ahmad Malik and Sheikh Khalid Humayun would depart for China on June 9. During their three-day stay in China, they would have meetings with President Shenzen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, business community of Shenzen.The delegation would also attend a working lunch arranged by Pakistan Consul General in Shenzen and a working dinner by Bio-century Transgene.The LCCI team would also visit different factories, besides having B-2-B (Business to Business) meetings in GuangzhouProvince.On June 12, the delegation would have a meeting with Vietnamese business leaders at Ho Chi Minh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A visit to various industrial units in Ho Chi Minh City is also part of LCCI delegation’s tour to Vietnam.From Ho Chi Minh City, the LCCI delegation would leave for Hanoi on June 14 where it would be meeting with Hanoi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Pakistan’s Ambassador in Hanoi has also arranged a working dinner in honour of LCCI delegates.
The LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik said that SouthKorea was one of the important trading partners of Pakistan and the volume of trade between Pakistan and South Korea was bound to increase as both the governments are making sector-specific moves to get the desired results.He said that non-availability of required trade-related information was the biggest hurdle in the way of South Korean investment in Pakistan. Korean investment in Pakistan is very little when it is compared with the rest of the world.There is a need for the technology transfer as both the countries have a lot to learn from each other. To create a win-win situation for both the countries, he said, Koreans need to increase their imports of cotton, raw hides & skins, fish, medical apparatus, toys & games, leather products, articles of apparels and textile articles from Pakistan.
Most of the Korean demand for these commodities is being met byKorea from sources other than Pakistan and only a small fragment is being imported from Pakistan. A little attention by the Korean Government and businessmen can increase Pakistan’s exports to Korea considerably.He said Vietnam’s market offers huge potential for Pakistani products like auto parts, pharmaceutical products, man-made filaments, knit fabrics, plastics & plastic products, fish, dairy products, surgical instruments, distillation products and handicrafts.Pakistan and Vietnam both being agricultural economies can also collaborate in agricultural implements and machinery sectors and can share their agricultural experience, he added. – Brecorder
