KARACHI - Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) has hosted an interactive session on Indo-Pak bilateral trade with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings between members of CII & KCCI.
Confederation of Indian Industry’s Business delegation leader and director of Forbes Marshall India Kiran Vohra expressed gratitude to President KCCI for extending opportunity to CII Members to explore business possibilities with KCCI members.
He articulated that CII is 136 years old organisation having 60 international offices and desires to establish productive relations with Pakistani counterparts. Establishing business contacts and understanding market trends and business is essential. Both sides have reservations on balance of trade.
Vohra apprised that CII’s delegation comprising of representatives from Indian Industries: Forbes Marshall, Calderys Indian Refractories, Escorts Ltd, Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co., HPCL-Mittal Energy, Rajnish International, Saint-Gobain Glass India, SSB Enterprises, Wipro Consumer Care were interested to join hands with Pakistan counterparts in FMCG, Lighting, electrical & home appliances, healthcare, refractory, engineering, industrial products, tractors & farm machinery, glass, cement, furniture sectors. He appreciated presence of number of KCCI member companies to have meaningful B2B meetings with CII delegation. Speaking to the occasion, Chairman Businessmen Group & former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli stated that peace dialogue process and confidence building measures between India and Pakistan started in 2004.
He said that for bilateral trade liberalization strengths, weaknesses and apprehensions are on both sides which can be resolved with mutual deliberations. Subsequent to recent bilateral talks on commercial and economic cooperation, follow-up from Indian side is far ahead as compared to Pakistani side.
KCCI President Muhammad Haroon Agar proposed to signature a protocol of cooperation between Karachi Chamber and CII to facilitate Indo-Pak business community and organising of exhibitions and trade delegations. He voiced that KCCI can join hands with Indian counterparts to address the apprehensions of business communities of both sides as trade is done when beneficial and based on reciprocity.
He apprised that India Expo was scheduled from 21-23 December at Karachi Expo Centre with collaboration of Federation of Indian Exporters Organizations (FIEO). He conveyed his message to President of CCI Adi Godrej that KCCI can extend similar cooperation to CII.
Senior Vice President KCCI Shamim Firpo, Vice President Nasir Mehmood, Chairman International Affairs KCCI Junaid Makda and Direct & Head South Asia Confederation of Indian Industry Manish Mohan also exchanged views on Indo-Pak Trade interaction session.