By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE – The Ambassador of Turkiye Irfan Neziroglu has said that Turkiye and Pakistan enjoy deep-rooted historical ties. Turkiye is keen to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in multiple sectors including defence, tourism, business, agriculture and higher education.
Turkish Ambassador optimistic for enhanced trade volume
He was speaking a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad, Senior Vice President Engineer Khalid Usman Vice President Shahid Nazir Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion. Executive Committee Members Mian Aamir Saeed, Ahsan Shahid, Firdous Nisar, Karamat Ali Awan, Syed Salman Ali, Irfan Ahmed Qureshi, Ahad Ameen Malik, Asif Khan and Muhammad Imran Salimi Waqas Aslam were also present.
The Ambassador stressed the need for a mindset shift saying that we are one nation and must act in unison with a sense of common purpose. He said that there is immense potential to boost trade and economic ties between the two brotherly nations.
LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad expressed profound gratitude to the people of Turkiye for standing firmly with Pakistan in critical times. He said that we are thankful to the Honorable President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who extended full support to Pakistan. Not only did Turkiye send a warship to support the Pakistan Navy but also provided drones to respond effectively to any threat from India.
“We deeply appreciate our Turkish brothers who prayed for Pakistan’s safety. It would not be wrong to say that Turkiye stood as an equal partner with Pakistan in achieving this historic success against India. May Allah bless the people of Turkiye”, he added.
Mian Abuzar Shad highlighted the strong diplomatic relations between the two countries, rooted in cultural, religious geo-political ties. He said that it is good to see that the growing cooperation between our nations in diverse fields such as economy, politics, defence cultural exchange.
He said that the Preferential Trade Agreement signed in 2022 has paved the way for expanding two-way trade. We are determined to make the most of the 261 tariff lines provided by Turkiye for easier market access.
He said that the LCCI, as Pakistan’s largest business support organization, is actively engaging its members to benefit from the opportunities in the Turkish market, especially in sectors like leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, sports goods, seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber, tyres, plastics engineering goods.
The LCCI President mentioned that Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye stood at $323 million in 2022-23, rising to $335 million in 2023-24. In the same period, imports from Turkiye increased from $478 million to over $491 million.
He said that in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (2024-25), from July to March, Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye are $221 million, while imports have reached $518 million. We are optimistic that this positive trend in bilateral trade will continue.
While highlighting Turkiye’s global trade stature, Mian Abuzar Shad said that Turkiye’s exports surpassed $260 billion while imports reached nearly $344 billion in 2024.
He said that while Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye are largely textile-based, imports mainly comprise machinery, iron & steel, chemicals plastic items. We aim to reduce our trade deficit and raise the total trade volume with Turkiye to at least $5 billion.
LCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Khalid Usman and Vice President Shahid Nazir Chaudhry highlighted the importance of organizing trade delegations and single-country exhibitions expressed LCCI’s willingness to establish strong ties with leading chambers of commerce in Turkiye under the Ambassador’s guidance.
