Ambassador of Argentina to Pakistan Leopoldo Francisco Shores Saturday called for a new strategy to cement trade and economic ties between the two countries, saying that there is a vast scope to enhance cooperation in agriculture and livestock sectors.
He was discussing bilateral trade relations with businessmen here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq also spoke on the occasion while Executive Committee Members Naeem Hanif, Muhammad Nadeem Malik, Rizwan Haider and former Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad were also present.
The ambassador said that agriculture sector of Punjab had a noteworthy share in the GDP of Pakistan while Argentina had also made a great progress in this sector.
He stressed the need for more collaboration between the two counties in this sector to yield better outcomes. He said that Argentina has keen interest in extending cooperation to Pakistan in different sectors.
“This is an important year as the diplomatic relations between the two coun tries have completed 70 years,” the envoy said, adding that strong B2B (business to business) contacts and exchange of trade delegations are vital to lift the mutual trade to the peak.
He said that good results can be achieved if the traders of both the countries are brought together on one platform and Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a key player in this regard.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said that Argentina – being the world’s 8th largest country, has many features that make it quite distinctive from the rest of the world.
Argentina is a great source of valuable minerals and interestingly its name comes from the Latin word ‘argentum’ which means silver.
He said that Argentina is ranked among the world’s leading nations on account of production of livestock and cereals.
He said that the economy of Argentina is almost twice of the size of Pakistan economy and it is ranked at 31st place among the GDP-wise biggest economies in the world. In the same list, Pakistan comes at 46th place.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that other than maintaining good diplomatic relations, Pakistan and Argentina are regular trading partners as well.