बिज़नस Pakistani exporters urged to explore Australian markets

Pakistani exporters urged to explore Australian markets
Consul General in Sydney, Australia, Azam Mohammed Friday has said that Australia was a potential market for exports, urging Pakistani exporters to penetrate into these markets by bringing diversification in their products.

Exchanging his views with President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( during his visit to the chamber's headquarters here, he said Pakistan's exports to Australia were confined to a few items like textiles products (bed linen & towel), followed by rice, sport goods, surgical instruments, furniture and footwear due to which share of Pakistan in Australia's total imports is negligible.

He said there was dire need to focus on exporting non-traditional and diversified products to Australia for achieving better results, adding that Australia has now reduced import duty on Pakistani textile products from 17.5 percent to 10 percent and for some items even to 5 percent. This provides Pakistani exporters an additional incentive to step up efforts for promoting exports to Australia, Azam remarked.

He observed that one viable option to attract better attention of Australian importers is to hold single country exhibitions of Pakistani products in Australia, adding that Pakistani exporters should come well prepared to Australia along-with products, catalogues and samples.

In this regard, he said the consulate of Pakistan in Sydney has established an updated web-site to provide valuable information to the exporters, saying the consulate would continue to provide maximum facilitation services to the Pakistani businessmen.

Speaking on the occasion, President ICCI Zahid Maqbool said Pakistani embassies in foreign countries should establish Export Advisory Cells in their commercial sections to guide Pakistani exporters about the potential export markets of Pakistani products.

These cell, he said, should conduct market studies of their respective areas and share this information with the country's chambers so that exporters could make plans to take advantage of potential export opportunities. He also urged the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to provide comprehensive training to exporters about the cutting edge marketing strategies, presentation and communication skills and culture of target markets so that they could enter such markets with full preparation and achieve optimum results.