TC Jan-Feb 2021 Issue

TRADE CHRONICLE
Pakistan offers $50m credit line to Sri
Lanka for defence ties
Pakistan has offered a $50 million new
credit line to Sri Lanka for cooperation
in the field of defence and security. The
announcement was made by Prime
Minister Imran Khan, who concluded
his two-day official visit to the island
nation, said a joint communique issued
by the foreign ministries of the two
countries from Colombo and Islamabad
recently.
The two sides called for stronger
partnership in matters related to
security, terrorism, organised crime
and drug and narcotics trafficking as
well as intelligence-sharing, according
to the joint communique. They also
noted that the elevation of staff-level
talks to defence dialogue had provided
an opportunity to expand security
sector relations.
To strengthen sports
diplomacy, Pakistan would
provide Rs52 million for
promotion of sports in
Sri Lanka, according to
the communique. Prime
Minister Khan at an
interactive session with
the sports community of
Sri Lanka announced the
commissioning of the Imran
Khan High Performance
Sports Centre in Colombo.
Pakistan also announced plans to
establish Asian Civilisation and Culture
Centre at the University of Peradeniya
at the Sri Lankan resort of Kandy.
Pakistan also announced 100
scholarships in the field of medicines
(MBBS and BDS) as part of the
Pakistan-Sri Lanka Higher Education
Cooperation programme.
During the visit, the prime minister
held delegation-level meetings with
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and
his counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa.
PM Khan reiterated Pakistan’s support
for the socio-economic development
of Sri Lanka in line with the vision of a
peaceful neighbourhood.
The memorandums of understanding
(MoUs) signed during the visit include i)
MoU on cooperation in tourism, ii) MoU
between the Boards of Investment,
iii) MoU between Sri Lanka’s
Industrial Technology
Institute (ITI) and
Karachi University’s
International Centre for
Chemical and Biological Sciences, iv)
Intent of cooperation between ITI and
Comsats University Islamabad and v)
MoU between University of Colombo
and Lahore School of Economics.
$1bn trade target
At the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Trade
and Investment Conference held in
Colombo, the two countries highlighted
the importance of realising the goal
of achieving $1 billion bilateral trade
target and also agreed to work towards
broadening and deepening of Pakistan-
Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Both sides stressed the need to convene
the charter-based bodies and agreed
to take forward the Saarc process for
strengthening regional cooperation.
The two sides reaffirmed their joint
commitment to regional peace, security
and stability as Prime Minister Khan
underscored the need for peaceful
resolution of all outstanding disputes,
particularly Kashmir issue, through
constructive dialogue in accordance
with international legitimacy.
Earlier, Prime Minister Khan and Sri
Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
in a one-on-one meeting affirmed
cooperation at multilateral fora.
During the talks held at Presidential
Secretariat, Mr Khan emphasised the
importance of building robust economic
partnership characterised by enhanced
bilateral trade, investments, and deeper
cooperation in the fields of agriculture,
tourism, science and technology,
sports, education and culture.
The two leaders also shared
experiences in poverty alleviation
and use of technology to control food
inflation.
Referring to the rich Buddhist heritage
of Pakistan, Mr Khan highlighted that
the country had huge potential of
being a choice destination for religious
tourism for the people of Sri Lanka. Mr
Khan also extended invitation to the Sri
Lankan president to visit Pakistan at
the earliest convenience.
Connectivity
While inviting the Sri Lankan
businessmen to invest in Pakistan
by exploring the opportunities being
offered in the form of ease-of-doing
business, Prime Minister Khan
told Pakistan-Sri Lanka Trade and
Investment Conference that trade
connectivity among the countries was
vital for poverty alleviation.
He proposed establishing
trade links, as existed
among the European Union
members, which he said
could prove beneficial for
the prosperity of the subcontinent.
He said Pakistan
and Sri Lanka could explore
the idea of generating wealth
through joint business
activities and diverting the
wealth to alleviate poverty.
Mr Khan expressed intent
for Pakistan to learn from
Sri Lanka’s advanced tourism industry.
Pakistan had several undiscovered
sites of religious tourism including
the Gandhara civilization and trails
of Buddhism, he said, adding that
a recently discovered 40-foot-long
Sleeping Buddha could be of special
interest for Sri Lankan tourists. He said
joining the Belt and Road Initiative could
open up new avenues for Sri Lanka with
an opportunity to connect from Gwadar
up to Central Asian states.
Mr Khan said he had offered Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a
dialogue to resolve all outstanding
issues, particularly the Kashmir dispute,
but Pakistan did not get a positive
response.
For a sustainable prosperity, he said,
the South Asian region with 1.3 billion
people needed to resolve its mutual
conflicts through dialogue.
TRADE CHRONICLE - Jan - Feb - 2021 - Page # 9