THE Australian High Commissioner in Pakistan has urged regional producers to tap into emerging export opportunities in the South Asian country.
During a visit to Mount Gambier late last week, Dr Geoffrey Shaw visited dairy, grain and potato producers to gain a snapshot of regional export opportunities.
Dr Shaw also liaised with Limestone Coast Regional Development Australia officials as well as local government leaders.
“I help people understand what I do as a diplomat and how we help them achieve economic growth and prosperity,” Dr Shaw said.
He said Pakistan had a market of 220 million people, which was a significant opportunity for regional producers.
While there were potential untapped opportunities, the diplomatic official also warned it was a difficult export market given the instability of the wider region.
“There is a large affluent middle class, but it is a tough market because the security situation is not ideal,” Dr Shaw said.
“You have to go in with your eyes open because there are still terrorist incidents and you have difficult neighbours such as Afghanistan and India.”
He said there were particularly opportunities for commodity and food exporters given there was also malnutrition in the country.
Dr Shaw said Pakistan was a regional hub of central Asia.
“Pakistan is trying to encourage trade and we have Pakistani companies interest in investing in Australia,” he said.
He revealed joint trade commission talks a “couple of weeks” in Pakistan and a delegation was also being planned to Australia.
Dr Shaw said the dairy and pulses sectors were working with the commission with exports.
“There are opportunities for growth, including education.”
He said there were 14,000 Pakistani students in Australia.
“There is a great opportunity to grow and diversity our student mass,” Dr Shaw said.
Overall, there are 65,000 Pakistani people in Australia.
Figures show the Australia-Pakistan trade in goods and services was worth $1.83b in 2017.
An Australian-Pakistan bilateral trade agreement has been in force since July 1990.
Both countries are looking to expand trade and investment, particularly in education and agribusiness.
There are good prospects for growth in dairy, crop production, quality issues and storage and handling in the agribusiness sector.
