PRESIDENT'S SPEECH AT THE INAUGURAL CEREMONY OF 8TH EXPO
PAKISTAN 2013
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Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim
Governor Sindh,
Chief Minister Sindh,
Minister of State for Commerce,
Secretary Commerce,
Secretary Trade Development Authority of Pakistan,
Worthy foreign guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Assalam-o-Alikum & Good Evening.
I am delighted to welcome you all to the 8th Expo Pakistan.
It is a great pleasure to note the presence of a large number of guests from different
parts of the world here today.
Today, some 800 buyers have arrived to meet with Pakistani suppliers under one
roof in a B2B setting.
Expo Pakistan will offer you a good opportunity to explore the potential of Pakistan.
A whole range of products from various sectors and industries will be on the display
at the Expo tomorrow.
Expo Pakistan was premiered a few years ago to showcase Pakistan’s export sector
for the foreign buyers.
The event is one of the very few “export-oriented” trade fairs in the world and offers
you a complete basket of Pakistan’s export sector.
In less than a decade, Expo Pakistan has snowballed into the flagship trade event of
Pakistan.
I am glad that a large number of buyers present this evening have visited this event
in the past also.
Your continued participation reflects that you have found Expo Pakistan to be a
useful business platform.
The Government of Pakistan has been consistently working to create a businessfriendly environment by
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·
simplifying procedures,
·
reducing red-tapism, and
·
enhancing transparency and efficiency.
Our government is committed to making Pakistan a preferred destination for
business.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Pakistan is a land of business opportunities.
We offer you, the foreign buyers, a very competitive sourcing option.
The leaders of our industry have carved out their place in the world market due to
their production efficiencies and business ethics.
Let me share with you a few interesting facts that lead to the strength of Pakistan’s
economy.
Pakistan has the 6th largest human resource and consumer base in the world.
We are the 4th largest exporter of rice in the world; the 4th largest producer of milk;
and the largest producer of chilies in the world.
On the industrial side, Pakistan’s textile industry is amongst the world’s leaders.
The bedsheets, quilt covers, t-shirts and jeans produced in Pakistan are sold at the
world’s leading chain stores.
Besides producing for leading international brand names, our textile sector has
developed quite a few home grown brands which have now gained recognition in the
foreign markets.
Pakistan has the state-of-the-art rice milling and processing industry and our
Basmati rice is sold as a premium product in the world market.
All these strengths offer you “unlimited business opportunities” as the slogan of Expo
Pakistan suggests.
To add to your profitability as our buyers, we have effectively negotiated bilateral,
multilateral and pluri-lateral trading arrangements with many regions and countries in
the world, which enable Pakistani products to enter the foreign markets at lower
tariffs.
South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) has liberalized trade with our South
Asian neighbours.
Bilateral free trade agreements with China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia are already
there.
Similarly, Preferential Trading Arrangements with Iran, Mauritius, Indonesia and D-8
countries have been finalized.
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We are now looking forward to Pakistan’s entry into GSP Plus Scheme of the
European Union, which will allow Pakistani products to enter into the European
market duty-free.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Government of Pakistan is committed to a consistent policy direction for our
trade and industry.
Ministry of Commerce has been announcing a three-year Strategic Trade Policy
Framework to ensure long-term policy consistency and predictability for businesses
to be able to plan and strategize.
The Government of Pakistan is also mindful of the challenges confronting our
industry and export sector.
The energy crisis has certainly affected our industry in meeting their delivery
commitments with the foreign buyers in some cases.
Our Government has made the resolution of this problem as its priority number one.
Some of the initiatives launched by the newly elected government have started
yielding results and the energy supply situation has considerably improved.
We are continuously working on improving the situation further and hope to
overcome the problem in the not so distant future.
Although the war against terror has greatly impacted our economy but our economy
has shown great resilience and is growing.
It is also important to underline that quite recently we have had a smooth transition
from one elected government to another elected government.
Democratic governance in this country has come of age.
This not only bodes well for political stability in the country rather we are hopeful that
promotion of the culture of dialogue under the democratic dispensation would help
us cultivate the values of tolerance and openness in the society.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In the end, I would like to commend the Ministry of Commerce and TDAP for doing a
great job in putting up this mega event and once again felicitate our foreign guests
for taking their time out and visiting our country.
I hope that their visit will translate into long term and stable sourcing arrangements
with their local business counterparts, and that they will carry fond memories of our
wonderful land.
Thank you,
Pakistan-Paindabad.
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