Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is keen to promote trade relations with Pakistan that would benefit the people and economies of both countries, said Dilsad Senol, Chief of Mission of TRNC in Pakistan.
She made the remarks while addressing the business community during her visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Ms. Dilsad Senol said that there was no formal trade between TRNC and Pakistan and it was time that both should focus on promoting bilateral trade. She identified agriculture, construction, tourism, education, dairy sector and citrus as potential areas of cooperation for Pakistan with TRNC.
She said that TRNC was importing most of the construction material and it was a good opportunity for Pakistan to export its construction material to TRNC besides exporting many other products. She said that TRNC has developed better infrastructure with qualified labor and was offering good incentives to foreign investors. She urged that Pakistani investors should tap TRNC’s market for investment. She said that 20 universities were operating in TRNC and over 3000 Pakistani students were getting an education in these universities. She said that common culture and religion also provided good scope to Pakistan and TRNC for promoting business relations.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said that the business community of Pakistan preferred to do trade with Turkey being a brotherly country and develop strong business relations with Turkish counterparts including the entrepreneurs of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
However, he said that there was a lack of awareness in the business community of Pakistan about the business opportunities in TRNC and stressed promoting the exchange of trade delegations to explore all potential areas of mutual cooperation between the two countries.
President ICCI said that the construction sector was booming in Pakistan and the SEZs being set up under CPEC offered attractive opportunities to local and foreign investors. He invited the investors of TRNC to explore investment opportunities in potential sectors of Pakistan’s economy including SEZs. He said that Pakistan possessed great reserves of high-quality marble & granite and urged that both countries should cooperate in sharing the latest technology to promote mechanized mining and produce value-added marble products.
Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh, Senior Vice President and Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President, ICCI thanked Ms. Dilsad Senol for visiting ICCI and emphasized encouraging the exchange of students and people-to-people contacts for promoting trade and economic relations between Pakistan and TRNC. Both sides also discussed many areas for promoting mutual cooperation between Pakistan and TRNC.