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Pak businessmen ``feel good`` about India mount delegations
New Delhi, Feb 26: Pakistanis are also ``feeling good`` about doing business with India with improvement in political relations between New Delhi and Islamabad.
New Delhi, Feb 26: Pakistanis are also ''feeling good'' about doing business with India with improvement in political relations between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Lessening of tensions at the border has given way to a spate of Pakistani business delegations coming to India. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) called on commerce and industry minister Arun Jaitley here today.
''With reducing tensions, bilateral trade will increase'', Mr Jaitley said meeting the KCCI delegation headed by Siraj Kassam Teli. Besides listing the areas of interest for mutual cooperation, the Pakistani businessmen informed Mr Jaitley that their visit was part of the ''confidence building measures” underway between the two countries.
The KCCI team is here in connection with the ''made in Pakistan'' show here. With substantial reduction in tensions between the two neighbours, the Pakistani businessmen are enthusiastic about working together with their Indian counterparts.
Although non-official trade is quite high, the official business between India and Pakistan is only Rs 400 crore with Indian exports being Rs 274 and imports Rs 128 crore.
Information technology, pharmaceuticals, automobile and Bollywood are the areas which India can leverage in Pakistan while the latter can find Indian markets in cotton and garments. ''Our entertainment industry has to be legitimised in Pakistan,'' the commerce and industry minister said.
The Pakistani delegation also informed Mr Jaitley that they could source tea, textile machinery and pharmaceuticals at a much cheaper cost. ''Drugs sold by multinationals in Pakistan are four-times expensive than the Indian medicine,'' they said.
India, according to Mr Jaitley, is emerging as a big source for healthcare for the neighbouring countries. Escorts is building a hospital in Amritsar for which they have started receiving enquiries from across the Wagah border. Similarly, a private hospital in Kolkata plans to treat patients from Bangladesh.
Bureau Report
''With reducing tensions, bilateral trade will increase'', Mr Jaitley said meeting the KCCI delegation headed by Siraj Kassam Teli. Besides listing the areas of interest for mutual cooperation, the Pakistani businessmen informed Mr Jaitley that their visit was part of the ''confidence building measures” underway between the two countries.
The KCCI team is here in connection with the ''made in Pakistan'' show here. With substantial reduction in tensions between the two neighbours, the Pakistani businessmen are enthusiastic about working together with their Indian counterparts.
Although non-official trade is quite high, the official business between India and Pakistan is only Rs 400 crore with Indian exports being Rs 274 and imports Rs 128 crore.
Information technology, pharmaceuticals, automobile and Bollywood are the areas which India can leverage in Pakistan while the latter can find Indian markets in cotton and garments. ''Our entertainment industry has to be legitimised in Pakistan,'' the commerce and industry minister said.
The Pakistani delegation also informed Mr Jaitley that they could source tea, textile machinery and pharmaceuticals at a much cheaper cost. ''Drugs sold by multinationals in Pakistan are four-times expensive than the Indian medicine,'' they said.
India, according to Mr Jaitley, is emerging as a big source for healthcare for the neighbouring countries. Escorts is building a hospital in Amritsar for which they have started receiving enquiries from across the Wagah border. Similarly, a private hospital in Kolkata plans to treat patients from Bangladesh.
Bureau Report