Beijing, Nov 9, (Asia Free Press): Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said on Tuesday that the bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and China and the Pakistani exports to China would set new records by the end of this year.
“China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner besides being the second largest export destination and this year especially despite the pandemic, our bilateral trade is growing a big percentage, especially the figures of this year,” he told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in an interview.
In the first three quarters of this year, Pakistani exports to China grew by 75 per cent, according to the Pakistani ambassador to China.
“So, we are hoping that by the end of this year, both the bilateral trade volume and the Pakistani exports to China would have a record and unprecedented figures,” he added.”
“The bilateral trade volume is US$ 20 billion but we are hoping that this year, it will touch $25 billion. Pakistan exports have been around US$ 1.8 billion, but this year, we are hoping that it will reach US$ 3 billion but still, we feel that we can double this number in the next four to five years,” he added.
He said textiles and sports goods could play a significant role in increasing Pakistani exports to China among Pakistan’s industries.
“Pakistan is one of the few countries which have whole value chain of the textile industry from weaving to finishing and textile products are very well known. Pakistan is the largest producer of footballs and Pakistani footballs have been officially used in the football world cups,” he added.
When asked about the importance of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in promoting Pakistan’s market in China and around the world, he said that it had provided Pakistani traders and businessmen with a platform to showcase their products to the world’s largest market for the past four years.
“In the second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), we have opened up the respective markets and deepened the access to our traders.”
He said that Pakistan and China’s bilateral trade had received a significant boost thanks to the tariffs line, allowing more than 1000 products to enter each other’s markets duty-free.
According to Ambassador Haque, Pakistan is interested in expanding free trade agreements in the service sector, which accounts for most of Pakistan’s and China’s GDPs.
“Earlier, it used to be agriculture, industry, but now services sector is the backbone of the economy. So, we would like the services sectors to be added in our future negotiations with China,” he added.
Both countries recently decided at the CPEC Joint Coordination Committee meeting to set up a working group on cooperation in information technology, industry, and industrialization and the establishment of special economic zones throughout Pakistan.
Moreover, he said, “We are inviting Chinese investors and companies to set up manufacturing facilities in Pakistan.”
