Daily Times

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 for a two-day state visit. This first-ever visit by a Belarusian president to Pakistan carries great significance. During the visit, a number of important agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed by the two countries, focusing on agricultural machinery, tractor plants and the dairy industry. The present government is looking for new markets and trade partners in order to increase trade activities of the country. This visit is a reflection of the “vision for seeking new horizons” for imports and exports. Therefore, Islamabad aims to bolster economic, commercial and strategic relations between Pakistan and Belarus.
Belarus lies in the heart of Europe and it is the most industrialised country to get independence from the Soviet Union. Presently, Belarus is the 30th in ease of doing business whereas, by 2018, the country will likely achieve the 21st rank for ease in doing business. Pakistan and Belarus share a cordial history of bilateral relations in economy, trade and defence. Both countries are maintaining agreements on trade, economic cooperation and investment protection. The visit of the Belarusian president would strengthen the economic and cultural ties between the two countries. Trade volume between Pakistan and Belarus is just $ 245 million, which could be improved significantly by encouraging a frequent exchange of business delegations. The exports of Belarus to Pakistan are confined to limited items including tractors, their tyres and spare parts, chemical fibres and petro chemicals. However, agriculture, energy, information technology, steel, furniture and other sectors are the potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.
Pakistan’s business community can take advantage of the customs union arrangement between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan whereby goods imported into either one of the three states can freely cross borders between the member states of the union having a market of 200 million people. Belarus is strong in producing fertilisers, dump trucks and chemicals that will improve quality and quantity for the agricultural sector of Pakistan. However, the price of machinery in Belarus is contingent on the price of metal in Russia, which increases the prices of products. The Pakistani government needs to highlight this issue in the current visit of the president of Belarus.
Pakistan is an agricultural country and the demand for up-to-date agricultural machinery is very high, thus there is a great need for Belarusian agricultural machinery, particularly tractors and their spare parts. The current government of Belarus is focusing on an agro-policy that has increased the production of wheat, rice and sugar. Pakistan can learn lessons from the Belarusian agro-policy in order to improve its production in the agricultural sector. Moreover, the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Belarus and Pakistan has been ratified by Belarus while ratification from Pakistan is still awaited. The government should ratify this treaty in order to provide ease to the business community in doing business with Belarusian companies.
Belarus should assist Pakistan with technology transfer and sharing expertise, especially in the fields of energy, mining, transport, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and other technical areas. Pakistan offers lucrative incentives to foreign investors and Belarusian investors should explore the country for investment and joint ventures. Pakistan has a lot of potential in the steel industry while Belarus is producing sophisticated and value added steel products. It should consider setting up steel manufacturing plants in Pakistan to achieve lucrative returns.
Belarus can also assist Pakistan in boosting its automobile industry. The Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) is a state run auto-motive manufacturer association of Belarus. The joint venture with MAZ in manufacturing all kinds of heavy vehicles, including buses, dumper trucks, cranes and other construction machinery will increase the competitiveness of the Pakistani market. Belarus is one of the most industrialised countries located in the heart of Europe and, by promoting trade with it, Pakistan could have better access to the region. This is the right time to focus on non-traditional markets, frequent exchange of business delegations and establishing direct business to business (B2B) contacts between the business communities of both the countries. A joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry between the two countries could also improve trade relations between the two countries. This act will secure the commercial interests of the business communities of both sides.

The writer is a freelance columnist