LAHORE: Ambassador of Brazil Claudio Lins has said that Brazil covers more than 42 per cent of its energy needs through renewable sources and ready for knowledge sharing with Pakistan.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Monday. LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder, Vice President Nasir Saeed, former LCCI President Iftikhar Ali Malik, Executive Committee Members Amjad Ali Jawa, Mian Abdul Razzaq, Tariq Mahmood, Waqar Ahmed Mian and Honorary Consul of Brazil Mian Hassan Mansha also spoke on the occasion.
Brazilian Ambassador said that Brazil is ready to extend cooperation to Pakistan in renewable energy sector. He said that Brazil has improved per hector yield through modern technology and double cropping and also one of the largest exporters of poultry meat. He said that Pakistani businessmen can take benefit from Brazilian expertise in these sectors.
He said that Brazil is the 9th biggest economy of the world with $1.7 trillion GDP and best place for doing business and investment. He said that despite having various commonalities and good diplomatic relations, trade volume between Brazil and Pakistan is meager. He said that mutual trade volume in 2015 was hardly 369 million US$ which does not match the potential exists in the two countries.
“Brazil is looking for new trade partners in Asia while Pakistan products are best and can easily make their way in the Brazilian market”, Brazilian envoy said.
He invited the Pakistan businessmen to work for joint ventures with their Brazilian counterparts and also report their reservations to the Brazilian Embassy in Pakistan regarding tariff etc.
The LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder said that Brazil-Pakistan relations are characterized as friendly and cooperative. He said that traditionally, the balance of trade has been in favour of Brazil. Although trade figures do not match the actual potential of trade but these are following an upward trend. From 2013 to 2015, the two way trade has surged from dollar 227 million to dollar 316 million. However, in contrast to that Pakistan exports are falling in terms of value which contracted from dollar 87 million to dollar 56 million. He said that we should work on ways to improve our trade and economic relations.
Almas Hyder said that the private sector of Pakistan can definitely take advantage of exporting to Brazil various types of consumer goods like ready-made garments, fabrics, knitwear, towels, leather & leather products, pharmaceutical, surgical instruments etc. He said that Brazil offers a huge potential for the exports of high quality footballs. Everyone knows that the game of football is very close to the hearts of Brazilian people. We can also supply agro products including rice, pulses, fruits and vegetables etc. For this, we need to work closely with your office to find the right partners.
Brazil has earned good repute in the field of hydro electric technology and in expanding commercial use of ethanol. We will certainly like to have the expertise of Brazilian experts who could share technical aspects and general information regarding production of ethanol (bio-fuel) by sugarcane and its usage in cars and power generation. It will certainly help Pakistan in reducing dependence on petroleum products.
Former LCCI President Iftikhar Ali Malik called for B2B meetings between the businessmen of the two countries. He said that tariff issues should be resolved to give boost to the mutual trade. He said that Brazil could take benefit from the cheap but skilled human resources of Pakistan.
Honorary Consul of Brazil Mian Hassan Mansha also spoke highly about the trade and economic relations between the two countries saying that Pakistan’s geographical location is very important and could be beneficial for the Brazilian investors.