LAHORE: Ambassador of Tunisia Borhene El Kamel has invited Pakistani businessmen to collaborate with their Tunisian counterparts and explore trade and investment opportunities in the country, a statement said.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), while LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Chaudhry Zafar Mahmood, Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt and Honorary Consul of Tunisia Mohammad Hameed also spoke on the occasion.
The Ambassador said that Tunisia is a gateway for European countries and African markets, the LCCI should plan a business delegation for Tunisia to identify business opportunities in Tunisian and African market.
The direct interaction between the private sectors of Pakistan and Tunisia is the key to explore all potential areas of mutual cooperation and the visit of the LCCI delegation will be a right step in that direction.
He assured that his embassy will facilitate Pakistani businessmen in business-to-business (b2b) meetings to make their visit successful.
Tunisia has signed Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) with many countries of the region and close cooperation with Pakistan will help it get easy access to Africa, EU, Middle East countries for exports.
Pakistan can also re-export its products to the other countries from Tunisia, the envoy said.
“We are looking forward to developing business relations with Pakistan as both countries are enjoying good political relations,” he said. The good relations between the two countries should also be reflected in mutual trade, he added.
Both countries have the potential to set up joint ventures in various sectors. Tunisia largely exports fertilisers and used clothes and imports rice, cotton and textile products from Pakistan.
He said that 80 per cent exports of Tunisia are to the EU market while 20 per cent are to North America, Africa, Asian countries, China and Japan.
Though the population of Tunisia is small, it is a lucrative market. “We are working practically to make visa issuance easy for the businessmen.”
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan and Tunisia are bound by strong ties of friendship and Islamic brotherhood, manifested in common perceptions and cooperation on various international and regional issues of mutual concern.
These ties are hardly reflected in bilateral trade that is still below even $20 million dollars. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data, the exports to Tunisia were around $10.2 million in 2020/21, which inched up to $17.2 million in 2021/22.
In contrast to that, the imports from Tunisia came down from $3.1 million to $2.1 million during that period. “We need to make joint efforts to make use of each other’s strengths. Mutual trade has to be improved by way of exploring potential areas. Our respective embassies and major chambers of commerce have to play some role in bringing some positive turnaround in trade volume.”
He appreciated the efforts of the Ambassador for helping Pakistan to become a member of the International Olive Union.
The LCCI president said that for some years, olive farming has already been done by some private companies in Pakistan while few have set up plants for extracting olive oil.
“This is an excellent example of cooperation, and I am sure the joint ventures in the field of olive oil production will go a long way in import substitution and after some years, Pakistan can become the exporter of olive oil,” he added.
There is immense potential of economic cooperation in various areas including; value added textiles, leather products, surgical instruments, sports goods, pharmaceuticals, auto parts and IT. “We need to collaborate to work on these lines. Further, both countries can cooperate in the fields of tourism, education and defence.”
He said that there are bright prospects for a PTA as it will certainly help in expanding the volume of bilateral trade. Right now there are heavy duties applied by Tunisian government on imported items, especially value added textiles. “Once that PTA is signed it will open up new avenues for both countries for expanding bilateral trade.”
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