There is a need that Pakistan and Sri Lanka should join hands to strengthen their respective economies. This was the consensus developed at a meeting between LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar and Sri Lankan Minister for Agriculture Naseer Ahmed who called on him on Monday. Former LCCI Executive Committee Members Marghoob Shakir Izhar, Rehmatulah Javed, Sheikh Muhammad Ayub and Chairman Standing Committee Awais Saeed Piracha were also present on the occasion.

The Sri Lankan Minister said that agriculture sector in the two countries hold a lot to offer each other. He said that Sri Lankan public sector has huge opportunities for Pakistan’s private sector. He said that the Sri Lankan businessmen had shown their willingness to do business with their Pakistani counterparts. Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Vice President Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and have good diplomatic and economic relations. He said that Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in South Asia after India. Both the countries signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2005.

He said that due to acute dry spell, Sri Lanka is planning to import 100,000 MT rice to meet its local demand. He said that since Pakistan is also a major player in rice exporting world over and have a number of varieties of rice, so Pakistan should also be given a bigger share in this regard. Kashif Anwar said that despite having good trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the two-way trade figures are not making any headway in recent years. Our exports to Sri Lanka are ranging between US$ 300 – 350 million and similarly the imports have yet to reach USD 100 million.

He said that India - Sri Lanka trade is around USD 5.2 billion, considering the size of Sri Lanka’s economy, not much room is left for Pakistan. He said that both countries should identify more items of trade to bring some positive change in two-way trade. LCCI Vice President said that more interestingly, both the countries heavily depend on their agriculture sectors and their industrial sectors primarily use agriculture produce. He said that Pakistan is famous for its textiles sector, wheat, rice, cotton and leather etc. Sri Lanka’s main industries include processing of rubber, tea, coconut, tobacco and other agricultural commodities. Almost 50% labour force of Pakistan is engaged in agriculture sector. In Sri Lanka, around 1/3 labour is associated with agriculture. Kashif Anwar said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka must join hands in developing their agriculture sectors. Arrangements for knowledge sharing, transfer of technology, joint research programs etc., can promise good outcomes.