LAHORE - Deputy Governor of Namangn Region, Uzbekistan & Head of Uzbek delegation Inamov Okibjon Odiljonovich has invited Pakistani businessmen to visit Uzbekistan and avail benefit from the opportunities through joint ventures with their Uzbek counterparts.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Saturday. LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah presented the address of welcome while Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion.
The Deputy Governor said that Uzbekistan is keen to enhance trade relations with Pakistan as both countries have great potential to cooperate with each other in many areas of economy. He identified pharmaceutical, tourism, agriculture, food processing, automobile, construction, chemicals, oil & gas, mining and electrical & electronics as potential areas of mutual cooperation. He asked the LCCI to form a sector-specific delegation for Uzbekistan.
He said that role of LCCI holds importance for B2B contacts between the two countries.
Mian Tariq Misbah shared the bilateral trade figures that are on the rise. He said that in 2018, the volume of two way trade was around 20.7 million dollars which went up to 28 million dollars in 2019 due to rapid increase in Pakistan’s exports to Uzbekistan. That trend continued and in 2020, the bilateral trade reached 34.3 million dollars.
He said that during the last three years, Pakistan’s imports from Uzbekistan increased from 3.3 million dollars to 9.1 million dollars whereas Pakistan exports to Uzbekistan went up from 17.4 million dollars to 25.2 million dollars. There is a great potential for both countries to enhance trade and economic relations through joint ventures in textiles, pharmaceuticals, construction, renewable energy, tourism and automotive parts. He said that absence of banking channel, difficulties in land route and communication are some of the major bottlenecks behind low trade volume.