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The fragrance of Pakistani and Indian flowers could soon breeze through homes and offices on either side of the border while Bollywood heros could soon serenade their Pakistani heroines.
With the Governments of India and Pakistan easing visa restrictions and encouraging business to business contacts, exports of flowers and joint production of movies are some of the new ventures being considered by the Pakistani business community.
“I am thinking of making a flower exchange where Indian and Pakistani flowers can be auctioned. It will be on the lines of what you have in Bangalore. Setting up an exchange will make it more viable for the farmers. In Pakistan, we have a variety of roses, gladiolas, tube roses – all of which can be exported to India directly through the exchange, thereby saving costs. This could be an alternate market to the West where there are so many quarantine issues,” said Ms Saeeda Nazar, Vice-President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ms Nazar, whose primary line of business is footwear, hopes to convert her hobby into something which will help the farmers and brighten up homes and offices in both India and Pakistan.
Similarly, having been in the film production business in Pakistan since 1958, Mr Anwaar Ahmed Sheikh is now keen to have a collaboration with the Indian film industry. “We would want a co-production between India and Pakistan film industry and want to promote India-Pakistan friendship through the medium of movies. We would like it if the hero is from here and the heroine from there. The young generation wants originality, not enemy culture,” he said.
Other opportunities
Apart from flowers and movies, the Pakistani business delegation said at a function organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry that it was looking at business opportunities in conventional areas of textiles, chemicals, plastic packing and chemicals among others.
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