Lahore, Seeking to further consolidate people to people exchange, Indian Government and industry joined hands to put up India Show at Lahore to be inaugurated on Saturday, kicking off new phase in trade and economic engagement of India & Pakistan.
Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim will inaugurate three-day India Show Saturday at Lahore Expo Centre organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry FICCI in collaboration with Indian Commerce & Industry Ministry with support from Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry & Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Nearly 150 Indian companies will showcase their products at India Show and it is expected business deals could also be finalized.
It will be first bilateral visit by an Indian Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Pakistan. He will walk into Pakistan territory through Attari- Wagah border on February 13 to take part in India Show celebrations and bilateral talks with Fahim to discuss ways to increase trade between two nations, remove restrictions on trade, movement of people and put in place a liberal visa regime to enable more people to people exchange.
Sharma will be accompanied by 80-member business and official delegation that will visit Lahore, Karachi & Islamabad to interact with Pakistani CEOs and officials. “Amount of interest for this historic visit is huge. Large SMEs are also part of delegation. Both countries are going to gain from visit. It also our desire that visa regime from both sides, at least for businessmen, should be liberalized removing all restrictions on their movement,” FICCI president RV Kanoria told media Friday in New Delhi.
The main object of three-day visit is to put in place mechanisms in an attempt to normalize trade ties between two countries. “I have no doubt in my mind that bilateral trade which currently stands at about $2.7 billion can be raised to $10 billion by 2015 if trade through third countries — Dubai, Singapore & Central Asian countries — is channelized into direct exchanges between the countries,” Kanoria said.
