Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has said that Pak-Turkey bilateral trade volume is set to climb to new heights as it has reclaimed the lost ground successively; as it surpassed $1.1 billion over the last one year after a decade-long hiatus. He added that the trend is pointing towards further increase in the bilateral trade volume progressively.

Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh apprised that the initial cargoes under the land-based shipping under TIR Convention took less than 15 days to reach Turkey; while sea-based cargoes take more than 40 days. He also expressed his satisfaction that Pakistan & Turkey enjoy strong people-to-people, business-to-business and chamber-to-chamber contacts.

Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh noted that Strategic Economic Framework (SEF) with Turkey will soon be signed; and, subsequently, the two countries should swiftly proceed to Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA); and, eventually to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) – as these agreements will unleash the true potential of trade & economic cooperation between the two countries, he added.

H.E. CemalSangu, Consul General of Turkey in Karachi, said that the true potential for bilateral trade is much higher and Pakistan can greatly benefit from technologically advanced products of Turkey; which are as good as European or any other producer. Likewise, he expressed his desire to encourage more exports from Pakistan to Turkey.

Mr. EyupYildirim, Commercial Attaché of Turkey, said that Turkey has been investing in the technologies of future like electrical vehicles, renewable energy, avionics & drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, space technologies and advances in agriculture – and, Pakistan can benefit from these industries through cooperation, trade and joint ventures.

Mr. Suleman Chawla, Senior Vice President FPCCI, has called for facilitating the ECO regional and other sub-regional countries to benefit from the geo-economic dynamics; land-based trade routes and the fruits of complementary economies to alleviate poverty and unemployment.

Mr. Amjad Rafi, a veteran business leader; who has served as the Chairman of Pak-Turkey Joint Business Council (PTJBC) for over two decades collectively; stated the Pakistan’s accession to UN’s TIR Convention has opened the doors for an unprecedented and sustainable growth in trade with Turkey in particular and ECO region in general. He emphasized that 3 – 4 major sectors should be thoroughly studied to enhance Pakistani exports to Turkey to capitalize on TIR as the teething problems with TIR implementation will soon be resolved.