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Karachi: Malaysia would invest in Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion by next year; this was stated by the Consul General of Malaysia, Khalid Abdur Razzaq on Tuesday.
Addressing a luncheon meeting at Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), the Malaysian diplomat said that the trade between the two brotherly countries is not at all satisfactory and even Malaysian exports for $1.8 billion to Pakistan were only due to palm oil as Pakistan is the second largest importer of Malaysian palm oil. He said that Pakistan’s exports to Malaysia reached to $125 million from $100 million three year ago but this increase is meagre and needs a quantum jump.
He said that he tried his best to explore Malaysian market for Pakistan’s products especially in textiles, rice, frozen seafood, etc. and now it was up to Pakistan’s exporters to fully exploit the opportunities. He said that Malaysia is a potential market for Pakistan’s basmati and IRRI rice. He said that visit of KATI’s trade delegation to Malaysia is a good effort but it’s not enough and there should be exchange of one trade delegation every month. “The bilateral trade between the two nations should be at least $5 billion”, Khalid said.
The Patron-in-Chief, KATI, S M Muneer expressed his profound gratitude to the services of outgoing Consul General of Malaysia and said that Khalid was not only served for his nation but for Pakistan as well during his three years and three months tenure in Karachi. He said that Khalid tried to portray soft image of Pakistan especially Karachi abroad and due to his efforts the share of Pakistan’s trade to Malaysia rose to over $215 million from $100 million.
The Chairman, KATI, Syed Johar Ali Qandhari in his welcome address paid glowing tributes to the outgoing diplomat for his services for boosting the two way trade. He said that KATI too had sent a delegation to Malaysia for trade development but these efforts not sufficient and more exchanges of delegation is need of the hour.
KATI’s Chairman Standing Committee on Diplomatic Affairs, Masood Naqi while paying tributes to Khalid said that he bridged the gap between entrepreneurs of the two countries. Former Chairman, Mian Zahid Hussain, Vice Chairman, Shahid Javed Qureshi and Saleem-uz-Zaman also spoke on the occasion.
For more information, contact:
Nadeem Ahmed
Press Secretary
Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI)
ST-4/2, Sector 23, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi 74900
Tel: +9221 3506 1211 -2
Cell: +92346 2012346
Fax: +9221 3506 1215
Email: kati@kati.pk