Daily Times

Indonesian Ambassador Adam M Tugio has said that the East is the future of the global economy and Pakistan should develop close cooperation with Indonesia to get better market access to ASEAN region.

He expressed these views while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI), said a statement issued on Thursday.

He said that China has around USD700 billion trade with ASEAN region while Pakistan has only USD7 billion trade with it and stressed that Pakistan should give more focus to East Asia and Pacific that have huge potential for trade and exports. He said that Pakistan should diversify its trade with Indonesia by focusing on more items. He said that both countries should pay attention to those areas in which they could complement each other’s economy.

He said that the Indonesian Embassy would try to bring trade delegations to Pakistan and similarly facilitate the Pakistani business community to visit Indonesia to explore new avenues of promoting bilateral trade between the two countries. He said that Pakistan and Indonesia are reviewing tariffs to bring more products in the trade agreement and ICCI should also give its input to make the trade agreement more beneficial for both countries.

He further said that he is interested to work with ICCI for promoting economic empowerment of women in Islamic countries as he is already in touch with the embassies of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia and other Islamic countries for this purpose.

He said that Pakistan youth is doing a great job in freelancing that would benefit its economy. He emphasised that Pakistan should also harness its e-commerce potential to accelerate the growth of its economy.

Speaking at the occasion, ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir said that Indonesia is a trillion dollar economy and is very important country for Pakistan to promote trade and exports. He said that the combined population of Pakistan and Indonesia is a huge market of over 490 million people with great potential for trade, joint ventures and investment for the entrepreneurs of both countries.

He said that Indonesia provides Pakistan easy access to ASEAN region and similarly Pakistan provides Indonesia easy access to the South Asian region. So, it is very important for both countries to develop close cooperation for achieving mutually beneficial results.

He said that despite signing an FTA in 2012, the bilateral trade of around USD2.5 billion between Pakistan and Indonesia is quite low given the size of their economies. He said the main reason for low trade is that both countries are doing trade in limited items and urged that they should focus on diversification of trade to achieve better results.