KARACHI, Sept 29: Export orders worth millions of dollars were placed by foreign buyers during the 8th Expo Pakistan which concluded here on Sunday.

While Bangladeshi buyers placed orders worth eight million dollars, an investment group from UAE expressed interest for sourcing goods from Pakistan worth $100 million.

The four-day mega event started on Sept 26 at the Karachi Expo Centre, and was organised by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (Tdap). About 1,000 buyers from 55 countries attended the event held business meetings, entered into export deals and signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

According to Tdap sources, the UAE group is keen to import home furnishing goods, including carpets and textiles. The group plans to base their sourcing from Pakistan for its chain stores in UAE and other GCC countries.

A delegate of the Dubai Textile City made deals worth $1 million with a Pakistani supplier of textile goods. While another group from Dubai Textile City finalised a deal worth $2 million in home textiles and furnishing.

Sources said many MoUs were signed between Bangladeshi buyers and Pakistani companies in the presence of Riazuddin Qureshi, director general, Board of Investment, and commercial attaché of Pakistan to Dhaka Farah Farooq.

Under one such agreement, a Pakistani company manufacturing electrical goods would supply fans worth $5 million to Bangladesh. Similarly, Pakistan will export kinnow worth $2 million to Bangladesh during the next season starting in November, 2013.

Another major development took place when a Bangladeshi importer placed orders worth over half a million dollars for Pakistani basmati rice and an agreement was signed with a local supplier, said Ms Farooq.

At a meeting with Tdap secretary Rabia Javery Agha, the Bangladeshi delegation informed her that there was huge demand for Pakistan-made ladies fabric and designer wear lawns, footwear, pharmaceutical raw material, medicine, spices and marble and an emerging market for mini-trucks.

Both sides expressed dissatisfaction over the current low volume of trade between the two countries.

It was pointed out that restrictions on business visas which entrepreneurs from both sides often faced, non-signing of FTA between the two counties and lack of implementation of South Asia Free Trade Agreement in its true spirit had affected trade growth.

A leading Japanese importer of fruits and vegetables, who has been sourcing from US and Latin American countries, also visited Pakistan and held extensive meetings with mango exporters and placed a big order for the next season.

Exhibitors of agro-food in rice, fruits and vegetables and herbal items negotiated deals worth $35 million from buyers of Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and US. Buyers from Azerbaijan, Kuwait and US finalised deals worth $29 million for import of consumers goods.