KARACHI: The Consul General (CG) of Sri Lanka in Karachi, H.E. G.L. Gnanatheva, Wednesday assured Pakistani businessmen and exporters of his cooperation for removing disparity of tariffs on Pakistani and Indian products in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Envoy, during meeting with Pakistan-Sri Lanka Business Council of FPCCI, advised Pakistani businessmen to conduct a comparative study on the Sri Lankan tariff lines for different products originating from Pakistan and India.
The Sri Lankan CG said that he wanted to see more Pakistani retail outlets selling Sri Lankan products and stressed that traders of both the countries should explore potential of diversified sectors for increasing the bilateral trade to its true potential.
Sticking only to few sectors would not make a big difference, he noted and pointed out potential of joint ventures of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in trade of tea and rubber particularly. He also praised the pricing and quality of motorcycle parts being manufactured in Pakistan and emphasized the need to scale-up the cooperation in IT sector as well.
Gnanatheva was also keen on cooperation in Basmati variety of rice and mentioned that he, recently, had a detailed meeting with Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan.
President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo termed the suggestions by the Sri Lankan envoy not less than a break-through adding that FPCCI was committed to help Pakistani business, industrial, and trade communities to fully capitalize on brotherly relations and geographical proximity with Sri Lanka and grow their businesses rapidly.
Chairman, Pakistan-Sri Lanka Business Council of FPCCI, Zeeshan Shahid Sheikh, thanked H.E. G.L. Gnanatheva for attending the meeting and highlighted the issues requiring his attention to facilitate business and economic cooperation between the two countries.
Gnanatheva has shown keen interest to resolve all the outstanding issues and address the ancillary challenges.