Pakistan President assures Lanka of providing cement, sugar plants on credit

Karachi (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday assured Sri Lanka of providing soft term credit facility for the export of Pakistani cement and sugar plants to the country.

He was talking to a Sri Lankan Parliamentary delegation headed by Speaker of Parliament Chamal Jayantha Rajapakse, which called on him at Governor House.

Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naek, Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza and Chairman of Board of Investment Saleem Mandviwala were also present on the occasion.

The Sri Lankan delegation included, beside others, Minister for Disaster Management Mohammad Fowzie Abdul Hameed.

President Zardari said that Pakistani entrepreneurs should invest in Sri Lanka and its Government must provide incentives, including repatriation of investment to attract investment from Pakistan.

He also stressed on the enhancing of economic cooperation between the two countries, including exchange of gem and stone cutting experts from Sri Lanka to Pakistan and Pakistani experts to Sri Lanka.

He added: “Pakistan can train Police and intelligence officers of Sri Lanka.”

The President underlined the need for increasing export of Sri Lankan tea to Pakistan and said that bilateral trade should be in local currency.

Rajapakse said that Sri Lanka fully supported Pakistan’s efforts and role regarding the war on terror to curb terrorism in the country and around the world. He highly appreciated Pakistan’s support extended to the Sri Lankan Army for combating terrorism in the peninsula.

The Sri Lankan delegation also showed keen interest in Gandhara and Taxila archeological sites.

Sri Lanka is the first country with which Pakistan signed a Free Trade Agreement, which has doubled bilateral trade in the last few years to 400 million dollars and both the nations have set a target to take the two-way trade to two billion dollars by 2012.