Need stressed to create opportunities for SMEs under CPEC projects

LAHORE: The Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) has stressed the need to create business opportunities for the SMEs under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, a statement said.

Chairing a PCJCCI think-tank meeting to review the Smeda survey report, PCJCCI president S M Naveed said that there were 45 products, which have a huge potential for exports.

Daud Ahmad, senior vice president of the PCJCCI, Khalid Rafique Chaudhry, vice president, Salahuddin Hanif, secretary general and other members of the chamber attended the meeting that identified 13 items as high value exports, 15 medium value exports and 17 low value exports.

The products under the category of high value exports included meat, fish, mangoes, chromium ores and concentrates, medical instruments, marble, footwear, rice, milk and cream, granulated sugar, denim, ethyl alcohol and footballs.

The PCJCCI office-bearers said the trade potential has been accessed by adopting a three-pronged approach, which includes detailed analysis of Pakistan’s trade with China, focus group discussions and stakeholders’ input in terms of a short survey.

They expressed the hope that the study would help the business community, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to strengthen economic ties with the world’s largest trading nation, China.

Naveed said that during the last few years, imports from China have increased disproportionately, compared with the exports to China.

“We need to develop a strategy to encourage new export product lines for the Chinese market, which are available now under various projects of CPEC,” he said.

Daud Ahmad said that Pakistan’s global trade share, under CPEC, would increase to an optimal level. “But we will have to adopt an approach, which can lead to a reduction in the prevalent trade deficit with China,” he added.

Khalid Rafique suggested creating a stakeholders’ group from the SME sector in collaboration with the Smeda and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to explore export opportunities available under CPEC.