BEIJING, Sept. 12  (INP):  “Pakistan has already opened the market of China and ASEAN. These years, Pakistan's exports have recorded a new volume, exports to China are showing great momentum as well, and we hope that by the end of this year, we will have a new breakthrough," said  Pakistani ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque

He was talking to Gwadar Pro after he visited the Pakistani pavilion of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO).

CAEXPO kicked off on Friday (10th) in Nanning. This is the second time in a row that Pakistan has been invited to participate in as a special partner.

Haque visited the Pakistani pavilion and conversated with Pakistani exhibitors. Then, he was exclusively interviewed by Gwadar Pro.

He believed that Pakistani goods have a strong competitive force, especially the textile sector, which remains one of Pakistan's flagship products.

“Pakistan is one of the few countries which has a complete ecosystem of textile, from weaving to dyeing, making garments and clothes. Textile is our strongest sector, so you can see the products from home textile to ladies’ clothes are all showcased here,” Haque said.

“Second, the food sector in Pakistan is very important. Pakistan is one of the largest leading countries in production of wheat, rice, sugarcane, cotton as essential raw materials, which have made us one of the most competitive countries in the region. Now, the government is focusing towards industrialization to do value addition for these products,” he added.

The third competitive commodity of Pakistan is milk products. Haque introduced: “We are the 4th largest country as equal to China in milk production. Now we are focusing on also bringing a revolution in the dairy sector by doing value addition such as making cheese, yogurt and other products, then exporting to ASEAN, China, and even the whole region.”

He also mentioned sports products as his favorite Pakistani goods, and he’s proud that “Pakistan is the largest producer of footballs in the world, and most world-class tournaments have assigned Pakistani football as their official football. Not only football, but we also make other sports goods like boxing gloves, motorcycle gloves, and so on.”

After visiting the pavilion, he said: “This is the second time that Pakistan has been invited to participate as a special partner country. We were given this honor for 2 years continuously, which is unprecedented in the history of CAEXPO.

In another sense, it is important because China and Pakistan are celebrating the 70th anniversary of our friendship this year.

Pakistan’s participation is dedicated to this milestone. I'm so happy to see such a beautifully designed pavilion and Pakistani products, which are very important export products of Pakistan. 14 Pakistani stores, which are set up by Pakistani traders, are displaying these different products.”

Haque emphasized that CAEXPO is very important for Pakistan because it represents two large markets: “China, which is the second largest economy in the world, and ASEAN, which has become a very important trading block in the region, represents about 2 billion people and $18 trillion economy. Now these countries have set up RCEP regional cooperation partnership.”

The international situation is closely related to Pakistan. Haque said: “Pakistan has a close friendship with China and ASEAN.

Pakistan’s presence and cooperation with China and ASEAN, provides our traders new opportunities to come here and use this platform to export to RCEP block. So, we think that this platform will help in building trilateral cooperation in trade and investments.”

“Pakistan has already opened the market of China and ASEAN. Now Pakistan has FTA with China, and launched its second phase last year. In recent years, both Pakistan and China have opened their markets, and nearly 1,000 products are exported duty free.

In addition, the Pakistani government is also helping to promote trade and create an enabling environment for our traders to converge here and share their projects, and the results are clear and evident.

These years, Pakistan's exports have been recorded a new volume, exports to China are showing a great momentum as well, and we hope that by the end of this year, we will have a new breakthrough,” Haque added.

INP/javed