Lahore: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has underlined the need for “Economic Diplomacy” to cement Pakistan’s trade and economic ties with the outer world.
The LCCI President, Malik Tahir Javaid while talking to a meeting of business community said that Pakistan cannot remain in isolation in the present economic arena where all countries are working hard to contribute heavily and to get maximum share in the international trade.
He said that China, United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, Hong Kong, UK and Canada are the top ten exporters while Pakistan is far behind despite having one of the best geographical locations, ideal coastline, ports and all kinds of resources.
He said that Economic Diplomacy should be a high priority for the government. He said that Economic Diplomacy is defined as the decision-making, policy making and advocating of a state’s business interests. He said that agenda of economic diplomacy should be very comprehensive and includes, amongst other issues pertaining to foreign trade and import-export relations, promoting of national economic interests in other country, informing and updating potential foreign investors on investment opportunities, negotiating economic and trade agreements on economic and trade cooperation. As well as co-operating with a view to eliminating problematic divergences and harmonizing standards in various (economic, social, environmental, educational etc.) sectors.
Malik Tahir Javaid said that Bilateral Economic Diplomacy plays a major role in economic relations between the countries. It includes bilateral agreements on trade, investment, employment, taxation, as well as a wide range of formal and informal economic issues between two countries. He further stated that bilateral Free Trade Agreements have been the order of the day and are being implemented by many countries around the world therefore Pakistan needs to do same. He said economic diplomacy also works at regional cooperation level. The removal of barriers and opening of markets become easier within a regional framework
