Omar1984
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KARACHI, Nov 8 (APP): Pakistan offers a lot of business opportunities. This was pointed out at a conference organized here on Saturday under the auspices of the Swiss Business Council (SBC).
A statement on Sunday said that leading business leaders from multinational and national companies, business analysts, think tanks and representatives from funding agencies deliberated on ways and means to foster economic activities.
Diplomats from Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, Turkey, and Malaysia also participated in the discussions and offered their support.
Martin Bienz, Consulate General of Switzerland in his remarks stated that the Swiss Business Council has made an effort to provide an open platform for all stakeholders to explore the potential and opportunities of Pakistan.
He said Pakistan offered many opportunities as it was a fast growing consumer market which was larger than the population of several European countries combined.
Martin hoped that the platform provided by SBC to explore avenues in Pakistan would convince the stakeholders to its geo-strategic location and its hardworking people besides the tremendous opportunities.
It may be difficult task to get investors to look at Pakistan but the potential is immense once the law and order situation improves in the country and the economy begins to take off, he said adding that he was sure that there were more opportunities waiting to be tapped in Pakistan.
President, Swiss Business Council, Farhat Ali, in his address said that Pakistan continues to offer great opportunities based on its strategic location, natural resources and talented manpower resources most of which remains unexplored and above all the resilient business community.
He said that the year 2010 can be great for us in anticipation of the expected upward global business trend in 2010 and 2011 and added that we have many niche opportunities in Pakistan to attract foreign and national investors especially in the field of agriculture, agro based industry, food supply chain, fisheries energy sector, metal and minerals.
In all these areas, it was further pointed out, there is a global demand, which we must capitalize on.
It is with this specific purpose that Swiss Business Council decided to bring together leading business men, diplomats and government functionaries and hold this important conference.
We are confident the outcome of this conference will have far reaching results, it was further stated.
The statement said that the Federal Minister for Finance, Shaukat Tarin, issued a message on this occasion which pointed out that it is of utmost importance to optimize Pakistans product access in EU and OECD countries as we truly deserve and merit consideration.
We must make it happen as these countries are our business partners since the inception of Pakistan and our relationship have withstood the test of time. Never before did we need their support and understanding as we need it now, in these testing and challenging times, the message added.
I have great expectations from this group of experts who have taken up this great task, when security concerns are gravely diluting our positive efforts, the message pointed out.
It said that the remedy is to move on, and with even greater vigor, to beat this effect. The initiative taken by Swiss Business Council and all its foreign and local friends by holding this conference of great importance is the right step and I compliment you all. We are now on the right track to systematically confront and tackle security issues and are making great progress. We look forward to 2010 and 2011 with great optimism, when the major global economies are likely to show an upward trend. Those developed countries will look towards developing countries being less costly in terms of production, as strategic partners. We want to capitalize on this window of opportunity, by positioning Pakistan at a level which makes it an attractive country to partner with, the message added.
Ms. Kanwal Bokhari spoke about the role of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which is a part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and works as the Development Arm of the Embassy of Switzerland and the Consulate General. It works in sectoral areas for poverty reduction through improving governance, increasing income including Public Private Partnership (PPP) and humanitarian assistance.
The SDC helps to explore possibilities for strategic business interests with a development to have win-win models.
She presented a paper on the investment opportunities in the agricultural sector particularly apricot. Some examples of business opportunities with development lens that SDC is involved with are:
Nestle Milk, Engros Olper Milk, Telinors E-mandi- Agriculture Commodity Trade (ACT) project.
Chairman, Board of Investment, Saleem Mandviwalla, Member, Thar Coal and Energy Board, Asad Ali Shah, Mohibullah Shah, Chairman, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Adnan Afridi, Managing Director, Karachi Stock Exchange, Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Advisor on Textile to Government of Pakistan, were also present at the discussions.
The Member Thar Coal and Energy Board Asad Ali Shah spoke on the vast opportunities offered in the power sector in Pakistan by the Thar coal reserves.
He said even if 20 percent of the reserve is utilized in power generator in Pakistan, its value comes to around 2 million dollars plus generate enough power for the country in the coming years.
Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig spoke on textile industry and how it is a main foreign exchange earner for Pakistan.
He said that government had formulated a five year textile policy to ensure that the sector functions smoothly.
