LAHORE:Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) Chairman Mian Nauman Kabir said Saturday that bilateral trade agreements are very much necessary for increasing trade volume between Pakistan and Nepa as both the countries are SARC members.
He stated this while meeting with Nepal’s Ambassador SewaLamsal. Provincial Minister for Tourism Yasir Humayun was also present on the occasion. Kabir discussed bilateral economic issues to promote trade ties between the two countries, especially tourism sector was discussed in detail. He said that trade volume was very low between the two countries.
Lamsal invited the PIAF chairman along with PIAF delegation to attend investment conferencebeing held in Katmandu during last week of March 2019. She also informed the participants about ongoing tourism projects in Nepal.The ambassador said that Nepal was holding this Investment Summit to share its potential with the world and Pakistani businessmen. She said that participation of Pakistani business community was also important to explore untapped opportunities.
She said: “There are a lot of investment opportunities for Pakistani investors. This is the right time for businessmen to initiate ventures with Nepal. There is a huge potential for investment in the field of infrastructure, agriculture, sports and especially, the hydropower sector.”The ambassador highlighted that work on a free trade agreement between Nepal and Pakistan was in progress. She said lack of direct flights between the two countries and the long route through India was hindering expansion of two-way trade.
The ambassador said that Nepal would celebrate 60 years of relations with Pakistan on20March. “Nepal highly values the relations with Pakistan.PIAF Chairman Nauman Kabir also extended his full support for the promotion of bilateral cultural and trade ties. “Trade volume suggests that both countries need to make efforts for developing people to people contact, tourism, direct flightsbetween Pakistan and Nepal for strengthening the bilateral trade, he concluded.