First ever joint dialog between Pakistan and Sri Lanka businessmen on “Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSLFTA)” was recently  by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

Majyd Aziz, President of KCCI, said that the Pakistani businessmen are not fully aware of the FTA and have not done their basic homework. He advised that they should adopt the best practices of the Indo-SL FTA. He said that the Sri Lankan businessmen have had the benefit of the ramifications of the Indo-SL FTA and have taken substantial advantage of this experience to enter the Pakistani market.

He said that the Pakistani exports to Colombo increased marginally from US$ 156 to 158 million while the Sri Lankan exports to Pakistan surged from US$ 44 to 71 million.

The Karachi Chamber Chief, who is also the Founder Chairman of Pakistan Sri Lanka Business Forum, called for setting up of a dispute resolution mechanism in order to facilitate more trade and remove a formidable bottleneck.

He advised the Pakistani businessmen to consider Sri Lanka as the focal point of trilateral trade among Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India. He demanded that the Pakistani government must grant Category ‘A’ visas (visas on arrival) to the Sri Lankans. He also disclosed that the first-ever Women Entrepreneur’s Trade Delegation organized by KCCI would visit Colombo in July and have an Exhibition there.

Director General of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Ms Manel De Silva, has informed the business community of Karachi that the next round of dialogue with Pakistan on service sector will be held soon. She advised Pakistan’s business community to start aggressive marketing of Pakistani products in Sri Lanka to fully benefit from PSLFTA. Ms De Silva said that the governments only signs agreement and facilitate the business community. It is the job of business community to fully utilize these agreements and facilities.

Ms Manel De Silva, who was in Karachi specifically for this Dialog on the personal request of the KCCI President to Sri Lankan Minister of Enterprise Development, Prof G. L. Peiris, said Sri Lanka market offers good opportunities to boost Pakistan’s exports. “It is now the job of Pakistani traders to explore this market and fully utilize the benefits of PSLFTA”, she added. She invited Pakistani business community to establish joint venture units in Sri Lanka for export of goods to third countries after value-addition. She said that Sri Lanka has FTA with India, GSP Plus agreement with European Union. These agreements can be exploited by having joint enterprises and exporting goods after value-addition.

Chairman, Sri Lanka-Pakistan Business Council, Ghulam Chatoor, emphasized the need for a favorable visa policy. He said that people have started speaking about border-free region in Saarc whereas in practice getting visa is the most difficult job in these countries. He also presented the facilities offered by BOI.

President of National Chamber of Industry Sri Lanka, Ratna Rajah, said that tariff on items which did not come in the ambit of FTA are also low in Sri Lanka as compared to Pakistan. He said that Pakistan has big chance to boost export of textile and leather products to Sri Lanka. More chamber-to-chamber interaction is essential, he added.

Consul General of Sri Lanka, V.S. Siddath Kumar said that it is not possible to import some products and re-export to other countries under FTA. He said that value-addition is necessary for re-exporting products to other countries. It is also not possible to simply assemble components of a product and claim value-addition.
 
Commercial Consul of Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka, Dr Muhammad Aejaz said that after PSLFTA came into force about one and a half-year ago, Sri Lanka trade with Pakistan registered an increased by 60 percent whereas Pakistan’s trade with Sri Lanka registered only three percent increase. He said that this result indicated that Pakistani business community is unaware of PSLFTA benefits. He said that they must study this agreement to fully exploit its benefits. He pointed out that the High Commission receives few trade inquires from Pakistani side whereas they receive a bundle of inquires from Sri Lanka side.

Usman Hasan, Director General of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, said that the Pakistani government was holding seminars to apprise the businessmen about FTA He said that one seminar was held in Faisalabad and other would be held in Lahore and Karachi.

After presentations, there was a lively discussion between the panelists and the audience which included businessmen from both the countries. Mementos were presented to the distinguished speakers while the women entrepreneurs of Karachi presented bouquets to the Sri Lankans.