Opportunities in meat, wheat, cotton JVs with Egypt

KARACHI: Pakistani businessmen should explore the possibility of selling meat products and wheat to the Egyptian market.

Said Hindam, the ambassador of Egypt in Pakistan visited the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Friday and met leading members of the business community.

Hindam said Egypt was presently importing most of its meat from Kazakhstan, which meant Pakistan could potentially tap into a very large market.

With regard to the trade in textiles, he said Egypt had no quota regime, while opening L/Cs was very easy. The Egyptian embassy was also very helpful in providing legitimate businessmen with visit visas, while Egypt had good access to Western markets.

All these factors meant Pakistan should explore the Egyptian textiles market more keenly. He said he would take up the proposal of joint ventures (JVs) in cotton with the concerned authorities in Cairo.

He asked the business community to consider the possibility of participation in the Textile Exhibition on Ramadan 10 this year and another trade fair on October 6, 2012.

Haroon Rashid Shaikh, Vice President FPCCI urged Hindam to take up the matter of reactivation of the D-8 Forum with his government, which was headquartered in Cairo.

He pointed out Egypt could act as a stepping-stone for Pakistan to markets in Africa and the Arab world. He expressed the business community’s desire to hold a meeting with the Egyptian Commerce Minister when he would visit Pakistan later in the yea