Agra:
A 53-member trade delegation from Lahore, Pakistan is scheduled to visit Agra on December 11-12 to explore possibilities of trade in various items between the two countries.
The delegation, which will include 10 women heads of trade units, will meet with members of the Agra National Chamber of Industries and Commerce.
Manish Agarwal, President of the Chamber, said that it was expected that while Agra would offer items like shoes, diesel engines, pump sets, engineering components, carpets, handicraft, marble inlay work, glassware, scent and lock making, Pakistan could offer carpets, onions, cloth, dry fruit and leather goods.
He said that the delegation would be in India from December 5 to 13 and besides the Agra visit, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Delhi, where it was expected to meet officials of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will lay the foundation of the Agra Trade Centre on a five-point five acres plot of land near Seengna village on the Agra-Delhi road. Pooran Dawar, President of the Agra Shoe Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the Centre would have a covered area of 6,000 sq metres with the building shaped like a shoe.
It will also have a 850 sq mt convention hall and an amphitheatre for fashion shows.
He said the Union government would provide Rs 22 crore for the Centre, while the State Government will give Rs 16 crore for a design 1 studio and testing laboratory.
Dawar said that a mega leather cluster would come up near the trade centre over on area of 62 acres.
He said that Agra, supplied shoes to 67 per cent of the Indian population and accounted for 25 per cent of shoe exports of the country worth Rs 2,500 crore.