President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Nigeria and Pakistan will work together to increase the bilateral trade volume between them from the current $70million to $1billion within the next five years.
Jonathan spoke during the Nigeria-Pakistan Trade and Investment Forum, organised by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
The President noted that the current trade volume between Nigeria and Pakistan did not reflect the strong political and economic ties that existed between the two countries, adding that both countries would work together to address the anomaly.
He said, “Nigeria and Pakistan have, over the years, established a friendly and cooperative relationship, deeply anchored on a shared vision of a stable world in which all countries can grow and develop in peace. More than ever, we are determined that our cooperation in the business and trade sector will reflect the strong and significant ties that Nigeria and Pakistan have always enjoyed in the political and diplomatic field.
“There are a number of Pakistani businesses operating in Nigeria; similarly, there are Nigerian businesses operating in Pakistan. However, the trade volume between Nigeria and Pakistan is currently below $100m. This is very low given the huge potentials that exist between the two countries.”
He added, “The governments of Nigeria and Pakistan will create the enabling environment for businessmen and the private sector of both countries to exploit the huge trade and investment opportunities to push the trade volume between Nigeria and Pakistan to at least $5billion within the next five years.
“It is the mutual desire to strengthen the bilateral relation between Nigeria and Pakistan that has made the President come to our country with a powerful trade delegation. In August 2013, about 42 Pakistani businessmen and investors were in Nigeria for the objective of exploring the trade and investment opportunities between the two countries. This is a follow up to that visit.”
The President commended the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga; and the business community for facilitating the platform to interact, network and build alliances, which he noted, would foster the development of fruitful businesses across Nigeria and Pakistan.
According to him, the business forum has no doubt opened a new vista for the building of partnerships that will foster mutually beneficial joint venture.
“The various macro-economic and structural reforms that we have put in place, and are being implemented under the framework of my Transformation Agenda, have not only given impetus to existing programmes but have also continued to facilitate greater foreign direct investment into the country,” Jonathan said.
In his remark, the President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain, said the purpose of his visit to Nigeria was to add a new mutually beneficial dimension to the existing political and bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Pakistan and to also lay the foundation for increasing the trade volume between the two countries from the current $70millon.
“We are going to open a commercial office in Lagos to immediately begin to facilitate more bilateral interface between Nigeria and Pakistan,” Hussain said.
Speaking earlier, Aganga said that Nigerian businessmen and women would work together with their Pakistani counterparts to achieve President Jonathan’s desire of increasing the bilateral trade between Nigeria and Pakistan to $1billion within the next five years.
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