Pakistan’s traditional export markets including USA, UK and Europe are still struggling to recover from the global economic recession due to which Pakistan’s trade volume with these countries is on the decline and it is high time that government should make a paradigm shift in its export strategy for focusing on Asia which offers unlimited opportunities for promoting trade and exports.

This was the upshot of a discussion during a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) in which many businessmen participated.

Chairing the meeting, Zahid Maqbool, President, ICCI said that in the coming years the fastest growing markets will be in the neighborhoods of Pakistan instead of in distant Europe, West & North America. He said the sources of foreign capital flows are also moving to the surplus economies of Asia like China and India and this is the opportune time that government should gear up its efforts to promote trade & exports with this region.

He said Asian markets are still untapped for Pakistan despite possessing huge trade & exports potential and added that country can achieve substantial economic dividends by promoting business linkages with Asian countries.

Businessmen said that there are plenty of possibilities for ‘win-win’ cooperation in the Asian region. However, to realize these objectives, all those barriers should be removed which held back Asian countries so far from capturing the extent of complementarities available in the region.

They urged the Asian governments to accelerate efforts for promoting regional economic integration that will create new opportunities for their people and will provide them a dignified life. They said government should adopt a strategy based on an understanding as to how Pakistan should enhance its trade share in the emerging Asian economies.

Zahid Maqbool was of the view that Pakistan badly needs to improve its growth rate as slow growth of economy is hampering employment opportunities and increasing poverty. He said improving trade linkages with Asian economies will help Pakistan in accelerating its economic growth.