LAHORE, Feb 6: A number of potential investors from Czech Republic are planning to visit Pakistan to have first-hand knowledge about the available business opportunities here and to initiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts.

Michal Jirkovsky and Ms Marie Kahounova, members of a Czech delegation, stated this while talking to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry senior vice-president Mian Muzaffar Ali here on Wednesday.

They said the Czech Republic had a very vast scope for Pakistani goods. The existing trade volume between the two countries was low and needed to be raised through frequent exchange of delegations. Chambers of commerce in both the countries should also play role in this regard.

They said the economic growth witnessed by Pakistan in recent years had impressed the manufacturers and investors in Czech Republic and they were now considering it the best place for investment. There is a need to identify possible fields of cooperation and to provide proper information to business communities of both sides.

Mr Muzaffar said Pakistan’s major exports to Czech Republic included leather and textile products but these exports constituted a fraction of Czech’s total imports of these commodities. For instance whereas Czech Republic’s total imports of leather products from the world in 2005 amounted to $176.1 million, Pakistan’s share in these imports was only $3 million i.e. 1.7 per cent. Similarly textile imports from Pakistan accounted for only 2.1 per cent of Czech Republic’s total imports of textile products from the world.

On the other hand, he said, Pakistan’s major imports from Czech Republic included machinery, paper & paperboard and electrical & electronic equipment.

“These too are a very small segment of Pakistan’s imports of these items.”

He said currently both countries were in the process of signing the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and an agreement for avoidance of double taxation.