Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) will meet with KCCI (Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry) at the association office in the morning. BTMA president MA Awal said they will give emphasis on bilateral trade.

KCCI will sit with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the largest trade body in the country, in the afternoon at BGMEA office.

The BTMA president told BDNEWS that they will give priority to joint ventures in textile as Pakistan has a strong textile sector.

He said they will pursue Pakistani trade group on minimising trade gap between the two countries.

"They have cotton and we have high value-added textile industry, both of our countries could be benefited from this meet," Awal added.

Annisul Huq, president of BGMEA said, "It's a very important meeting for us and we will try to grasp every single opportunity we could get from the meet."

Khalid Firoz, president of the KCCI, said, "68 percent of Pakistan's export revenue comes from cotton and textile products, and that Bangladesh's apparel industry, which is growing fast, is dependent on imported cotton and fabrics. Both countries can be hugely benefited from the bilateral trade."

Awal said if textile mills are set up in joint ventures, the initial investment will surpass several billion and the outcome will be bombastic.

Bilateral and regional trade are becoming popular all over the world. European Union (EU) trade around 50 to 70 percent of their exported goods between their member nations, the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) does 30 percent of their trade intra-regionally while the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) does only five percent.