March 20, 2019: Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad will arrive in Islamabad on Thursday on a three-day visit to Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The Malaysian Prime Minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including several leading businessmen.

The two Prime Ministers will also speak at the Round Table meeting of the CEOs of Industries, who desire to invest in automobile and telecommunication sectors of Pakistan.

Foreign Office Spokesperson, Dr. Muhammad Faisal, in a statement today said the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister will further cement the existing friendly relations between the two countries.

He said the focus of the interest is on enhancing economic, trade, investment, and defence ties, for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

The Businessmen Panel (BMP) for Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry hailing visit of Dr. Mahathir Muhammad to the country hopes it will also give a new push to its trade in the ASEAN region.

BMP Chairman, Mian Anjum Nisar here on Wednesday said although Malaysia and Pakistan enjoy very close and fraternal relations as both shared several commonalities yet these could never translate into strong trade ties.

“Although Pakistan and Malaysia have also signed FTA yet not much momentum in trade has been witnessed,” he said.

Emphasizing need for special attention and efforts on part of both the countries, BMP Chairman said regular exchange of trade delegations and participation in trade promotional activities may help boost economic relations between the two.

Pakistan, he said fully recognizes the importance of regular discussions to strengthen the trade relationship in key sectors and addressing bilateral trade imbalance.

“This is needed to be taken up on urgent basis as Pakistani Businesses eagerly need Malaysian market and ASEAN region to diversify its exports, particularly in horticulture, sports surgical and textile sectors,” said the senior exporter and representative of local business community.

It was mentioned that Pakistan is a big supplier of IRRI and Basmati rice while the Malaysian requirement is of 1,000,000 metric tons annually for domestic consumption.

“Unfortunately share of Pakistan is not more than 200,000 tons and the Malaysian government must be requested to enhance the quota of Pakistani rice export to Malaysia, at competitive prices,” said BMP leader.  

Nisar said Pakistani authorities need to also approach their Malaysian counterparts with the proposal to review 5% to 7% duties imposed on mango and kinnows import from Pakistan.

BMP Secretary General and Former President FPCCI, Senator Ghulam Ali supplementing his senior colleague said Malaysia and Pakistan are enjoying warm and friendly relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1957.

“Both the countries being the members of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organisation for Islamic Conference (OIC) and G77 also share a similar position on regional and international issues,” he said mentioning Pakistan is also a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

“The exchange of trade delegations is direly needed to boost the bilateral trade ties and volumes,” he reiterated.

Ghulam Ali said his panel also looks forward to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expected to be signed between the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) during the forthcoming visit of Malaysian Prime Minister.

The BMP officials were of unanimous opinion that Pakistan needed to manage its economy in a completely different way as presently the country's growth story is one of boom and bust, however, our history shows that a few years of strong growth are always followed by crisis.

To avoid such crises in the future, they said state's revenue collection and its private sector must be equally strengthened.

Efforts to broaden the tax net and bolster tax administration was said to help raise tax revenues on permanent basis, without increasing the burden on those already paying taxes.

The senior businessmen further suggested urgency to turn the country's private more competitive through an improved business environment, increased openness to trade and investment besides reforms in the energy sector.

(APP)

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