Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan Noordeen Mohamed Shaheid said although the two countries signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), certain issues including non-tariff barriers (NTBs) need to be resolved to improve trade between the two countries.
He was addressing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), recently.
He said Pakistan and Sri Lanka had signed the FTA in June 2005 under which the private sectors of both countries were provided with greater opportunities to take trade and economic relations to the next level. From 2005, there was significant increase in bilateral trade, he said. “But it is also a fact that the two countries could not succeed in fully exploiting the trade potential,” he added.
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner said there was vast scope for the expansion of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
He urged both countries to introduce new products for trade and make business-to-business contacts stronger.
“Sri Lanka offers huge opportunities in various sectors of economy,” he added. He said although terrorism remained a big challenge for Sri Lanka, today the country is peaceful. “We have defeated terrorism due to immense support of Pakistan,” he said.
LCCI President Almas Hyder said Sri Lanka was at the take-off stage and Pakistani business community should avail this great opportunity. - Dawn
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