Sri Lanka and Pakistan will make mutually gainful endeavours to further increase bilateral trade between the two countries, taking the figure to $1 billion per annum, Karachi based media reports said yesterday.

A news item published by The News in its web edition said that the decision to further increase in bilateral trade between the two nations had been announced on Thursday by V. S. Sidath Kumar, Consul General of Sri Lanka, on a visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

It said: Pakistan and Sri Lanka signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Feb 2005, ever since the two countries have seen a 70 per cent growth in business. However, the trade volume still stands at $300 million per annum which is a diminutive figure as compared to the available potential.

In a meeting with the members of the chamber, the consul general discussed various options of doing business and improving cooperation.

The businessmen discussed issues like import of tea from Sri Lanka, reasons for decline in its exports, export of cement from Pakistan to Sri Lanka, cornea transplant, etc.

The businessmen present, especially emphasised that due to the technical expertise of Sri Lanka in the marine sector, the Sri Lankan government should provide help to improve business in marine aqua culture and related zones, especially in the region of Sindh, which has a lot f potential in aqua marine and fisheries sectors.

Besides that, issues like the perishable cargo handling were also discussed and Sri Lankan patronage was requested to help Pakistan from loosing a life-size bulk of food and perishable export.

KCCI President Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad and the Sri Lankan Consul General decided to hold a conference early next month ahead of ‘My Karachi’ exhibition to educate Pakistani businessmen and their counterparts in Sri Lanka about the methods, potential and prospects to further boost trade between the two sides.