Pakistan's Economy - News and Updates

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Turkey-Pakistan agrees to boost economic ties

ANKARA, 17 October 2012: Turkish President Mr. Abdullah Gul here today warmly received Minister of State/Chairman Board of Investment Mr. Saleem H. Mandviwala.

Mr. Mandviwala, who is visiting Turkey as a Special Envoy of President of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, delivered a special message from him to President Gul.

President Gul agreed with Mr. Mandviwala that both Pakistan and Turkey need to focus energies on further enhancing their economic and commercial relations. President Gul emphasized that the two countries should make concerted efforts to meet the target of US$ 2 billion bilateral trade by 2012. Mr. Mandviwala brought to the attention of President Gul the negative impact of safeguard measures imposed by Turkey on Pakistan’s textile exports to Turkey and underlined the need for urgently concluding a comprehensive Preferential Trade Arrangement between the two countries.

President Gul said Turkish leadership is encouraging businessmen to further expand their investment ventures in Pakistan, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors. President Gul also referred to the Istanbul-Islamabad cargo goods train project (Gul Train) and stressed the need for effective and efficient operations of the cargo train. This will give further momentum to economic activities in the entire region, he added.

Mr. Mandviwala briefed the Turkish President about the state of Pakistan’s economy and investment policies. Mr. Mandviwala stated that attractive investment policies such as 100% equity, profit and dividend repatriation make Pakistan a good candidate for global investment.

Secretary Commerce Mr. Munir Qureshi, Ambassador of Pakistan to Turkey Mr. Muhammad Haroon Shaukat, Consul General Istanbul Dr. Yusuf Junaid and Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Moin-ul-Haq were also present in the meeting.

Turkey-Pakistan agrees to boost economic ties | NewsPakistan.PK

 

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Pakistan keen to strengthen relations with Bahrain: Raja Pervez Ashraf

KUWAIT CITY: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Pakistan attaches great importance and keen to strengthen its relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain.

During his meeting with King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah on the sidelines of Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit here Wednesday, the premier said that the two countries enjoy close, cordial and friendly relations based on mutual trust and understanding.

Raja Pervez Ashraf commended King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah's endeavour to promote understanding among various segments of society and resolved the problems of his people through dialogue. Pakistan Diaspora is significantly contributing to the development and progress in Bahrain both in public and private sectors, he added.

He said that 65,000-strong Pakistani expatriate community in Bahrain is an asset for both the countries. He also thanked the Kingdom for taking care of the Pakistani community.

Raja Pervez Ashraf said that economic and trade relation between the two countries have been steadily improving. However, it is well below the real potential and it is the need of the hour to improve this by availing existing opportunities.

In this respect it is important to hold meetings of Bilateral Consultations and Joint Ministerial Commission as they are long overdue.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan has been working for an early conclusion of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with GCC and expressed the desire to further strengthening Defence Cooperation.

Raja Pervez Ashraf also extended an invitation to King of Bahrain to visit Pakistan which he accepted.

Pakistan is his second home; King of Bahrain said and thanked the government and people of Pakistan for their continued support.

Pakistan keen to strengthen relations with Bahrain: Raja Pervez Ashraf

 

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Pakistan: Expo Pakistan continues to attract foreign buyers

Imtiaz Enterprises, an international company specializing in the import and export of fresh fruit and vegetables participated at the recent Expo Pakistan, held in Karachi from October 4th to 7th 2012, a trade fair organized by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan with an objective to strengthen contacts with leading players in world-wide fruit and vegetables along with new business development, sourcing suppliers, providing information to industry professionals and building customer relations.

Imtiaz Hussain, Managing Director at the company said, “The Expo Pakistan, which is the largest showcase of Pakistan's export merchandize and services has been attracting large number of foreign buyers for the last couple of years. It is remarkable to see many visitors from Western Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. Trade Development Authority of Pakistan has done well to organize the event, arrange B2B meetings on the sidelines to have in depth interaction among traders of specified sectors and get a few new MoU’s signed with Chambers of several countries. The level of the trade visitors' decision-making authority remained high throughout the 4 day exhibition and export orders worth $1 billion were ordered by over 1000 foreign buyers and delegates focusing mainly at the Agro Foods, Textile, Sports Goods and Home ware sector.”

Regarding the investments in Pakistan he informed: “Beside the country’s own companies, stalls from China, Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO), CBI Netherlands and Sri Lankan Consulate were also the centers of attractions for the local and foreign visitors. The international event would definitely help to enhance the country exports through marketing the countries valued products.

“We have been exporting Pakistan sweet mangoes and mandarin to European & Far East markets for several years, and it remains the number one product our company ships to the region. Now we are looking forward to introducing other products such as grapes and pomegranates to the European markets. Our traditional markets in the EU are also becoming more competitive, particularly on mango and citrus with Egypt sending more fruit to that region, so we need to find new markets for our products. We are have high hopes from the outcome of this exhibition” he added.

The company is planning to introduce ultra tech machinery for the sorting, grading and packaging of fruit and vegetables specially for onion and potato that will facilitate industry to improve processing in terms of higher capacity, delicacy, and enhanced quality as well as savings in labour. In other words, efficiency. It will also help to improve the process of quality selection and increase the company’s market profitability, resulting in a high quality standard in processing and selection never imagined before in the country.

Mr. Hussain concluded by saying he always looks forward to the future with great excitement and confidence.

Pakistan: Expo Pakistan continues to attract foreign buyers

 

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Austrians keen to invest in mega hydel power projects
ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of Austria to Pakistan H.E Axel Wech along with two member delegation called on the Federal Minister for Water and Power, Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar here Thursday and discussed various matters of mutual interest and cooperation in the energy sector.
The Minister said that the government will well come the Austrian investment and facilitate the investors. The Minister said that Pakistan is energy deficient country and has great potential in hydel, wind and coal generation. The Minister offered them to invest in the small, medium hydel and run of river projects. The govt has planned to change the energy mix to generate cheaper power.
The Ambassador said that various companies are already working in Pakistan in energy sector. He said that Austrians are interested to invest in Tarbela-V extension project and other mega hydel projects. He stated that Austrians would participate in the bidding process for mega Water and Power projects and consider the offer for investment in the small and medium hydel projects.
He remained some time with the Minister and discussed various other opportunities to invest in the power sector.

 

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Senior Chinese Leader, Pakistani President Vow to Boost Ties

Visiting Chinese leader Li Changchun held talks here on Wednesday with the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, calling on the two sides to further implement the important consensus reached between the heads of the two states with the aim of stepping up bilateral relations to a higher level.

"The purpose of my visit is to enhance the strategic mutual trust and promote the bilateral cooperation with mutual benefit," Li told Zardari. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), noted that the bilateral cooperation on trade was a very important component for China-Pakistan strategic cooperation, promising that China would encourage its companies to establish business and increase investment in Pakistan and continue to provide the assistance to help Pakistan's social and economic development.

"I hope the two sides would work together to expand their exchange and cooperation in fields such as culture, education and media, intensify the interaction among the youth, women and local governments between the two nations and better coordinate on international issues to safeguard the common interests," Li said.

Agreeing with Li's views on the bilateral relations, Zardari said he was committed to foster Pakistan-China cooperation in many fields and would offer comprehensive service to the Chinese companies who come to Pakistan to start business. Pakistan would continue to support China firmly on issues to its key concern and spare no effort to protect the safety and security of the Chinese personnel and institutions who are engaged in Pakistan.

As for the party-to-party relations, Li stressed the ties between the Chinese and Pakistani political parties have formed an important part of the bilateral relations and CPC welcomes leaders and young politicians of the Pakistan People Party (PPP) to visit China.

Zardari, who is also the PPP co-chairman, spoke highly of the achievements China has made under the CPC leadership, expressing his confidence that China's development would provide more opportunities as well as contributions to the regional prosperity and stability.

At the invitations of the Pakistani government, Li arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon for a two-day good will official visit to the country.

Pakistan is the first leg of Li's three-nation visit to South Asia that will also bring him to the Maldives and Bangladesh.

Senior Chinese Leader, Pakistani President Vow to Boost Ties

 

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Autonomous Trade Preferences package: Islamabad waiting for European Council's approval: official

Pakistan is awaiting the European Council's approval for Autonomous Trade Preferences (ATPs) which will allow import of 75 products from Pakistan scheduled to commence from November 1 this year, said Additional Secretary Ministry of Commerce Fazal Abbas Makan. He was addressing a seminar on the implementation of ATP scheme on Thursday.

The European Union (EU) granted duty free access to 75 items at the HS Code 8 digit level, of which 26 items are under quantity based Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) and 49 items are under a 25 per cent quantity increase cap based on average of last 3 years exports.

The package includes 33 products of non value added textiles, 23 products of textile garments, 8 products of home textiles, 4 products of value added leather, 3 products of footwear, 2 products of raw leather, 1 product of ethanol and 1 product of vegetables. The existing tariff on products included in ATPs for concessions varies from 19.2 Euros/ hector litres on Ethyl Alcohol to 2.5 per cent on raw leather.

Quota management will be done entirely by the European Commission. The basic role of Pakistani authorities relates to issuance of certificate of origin confirming that the exported products are of Pakistani origin so that they can qualify for ATP concessions. Highlighting government efforts for the trade package's implementation, Fazal Abbas Makan said that these concessions were an EU initiative to help Pakistan's economic recovery from losses it sustained due to devastating floods in 2010. "Several countries and EU's textile lobby tried to block Pakistan's trade package, but our extensive lobbying ultimately succeeded," he added.

He, however, urged the business community to meet EU standards to benefit from this package and pave the way for Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, to be finalised next year. Makan argued that the business community should address compliance issues such as environment and labour, adding that as an Islamic country such issues should be addressed. These concessions will be available for December 2013, he stated and added that Pakistan will be eligible for GSP plus from 2014 onwards. For the remaining two months of current year ie 2012, only 25 per cent of the annual quota would be available for duty free access.

EU importers will apply to the custom authorities of the relevant EU member states to avail the benefit of TRQ on first come first served basis. These requests by the EU importers for TRQ will be entertained with reference to the date on which the custom declaration is accepted by the authorities of the concerned EU member state.

EU importers and all interested parties will be able to monitor the state of quota utilisation at any given time on the EC Directorate General Taxation and Custom Union (TAXUD) website. As and when 90 per cent of the total quota quantity is used up, its status will be considered critical and an alert will be posted on the website against that particular time line.

According to Commerce Ministry Pakistan's exports of 75 items to EU would net the country 1.211 billion euros. However, TDAP estimates indicate that value of exports in 2011 was 1.7099 billion euros and estimated exports as per agreed conditions are expected to be 2.247 billion euros. This shows a gain of 537 million euros in value and 31.4 per cent gain in terms of increase.

Asaf Ghafoor, the Secretary Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Integration, Mujeeb Ahmad Khan, the head of the WTO cell and research and analysis directorate, TDAP, Tippu Sultan, Head of TDAP's Advisory Services and Roubina Taufiq Shah, TDAP's Director, Islamabad also addressed the seminar.

 

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Economist lauds Prime Minister's announcement to host ACO in December

ISLAMABAD: Renowned economist Dr. Saboor Ghayur lauded the announcement of Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf for hosting Asian Cooperation Organization (ACO) conference on energy in December.

Talking to a private news channel, he said that if Pakistan hosts the conference, it will open up new avenues of investment in energy sector for exploitation of enormous resources like Thar Coal and small dams.

He said that the conference will attract the attention of international investors towards Pakistan.

He lauded the recent conference of Asian Cooperation Organization (ACO) held in Kuwait and said that Pakistan is also concentrating on regional trade in order to reduce its expenditure. Regional trade and cooperation reduce the costs of labor and transportation, he added.

Dr. Saboor said that new economies are emerging in Asia and it is hoped that China will be a leading economy in the next fifteen years. Pakistan has also potential in this regard, he noted.

Moreover, fifty per cent of the world population is also in Asia, therefore, cooperation among regional countries can play a pivotal role in term of utilization of human resources, he said.

"Pakistan is facing immense energy crisis. The project of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) will not only provide energy but also help recipient countries in terms of pipeline transport fee." he stated.

He said that the surplus of international community is not operational as China has $ 2 trillion reserves and it is expanding its investment.

Gwadar port was constructed with assistance of China which is providing benefits to Pakistan, he said.

 

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Pakistan, Italy ink agreement for promotion of olive farming

ISLAMABAD: A three-year project has been launched under the debt-swap agreement between Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and the Italian government for promotion of olive farming in Pakistan, a top official in the council said on Thursday.

As many as 1,500 hectares of land would be brought under olive cultivation within the next three years with an aim to exploit the potential in this particular sector and make the country self-sufficient in olive production.

PARC has already identified olive cultivation areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Potohar Region (Punjab) and Balochistan; and has started work on planting olive trees since March this year, said Crops Senior Director and Olive Production National Project Director Dr Mohammad Munir Goraya. He said that the PARC has taken all the four provinces onboard for launching the project. The land being brought under the cultivation under the project would be in addition to that already utilised for the cultivation of olive.

The official was of the view that olive cultivation needs fewer resources and marginal lands are needed for its cultivation so it is a lucrative engagement for farmers who can take full advantage of this. Once established, the olive gardens would start bearing fruit after three years (in 2015), so the council would set up four olive oil extraction machinery (plants) to facilitate farmers, he said and elaborated that one each big plant would be established in Balochistan and Potohar regions while two units would be installed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA regions.

In addition, mobile oil extracting units would also be arranged that would be used for oil extraction in those areas where farmers have no access to these four oil extracting facilities. He said plantation of the olive plants takes place in March or November of each year adding that the PARC has identified 12 kinds of plants to be planted in these gardens, keeping in view the climatic conditions.

Dr Goraya said that the Italian government is also interested in launching research project aimed promoting olive cultivation in the country including AJK.

A Memorandum of Understanding to this effect would be finalised soon under which Pakistan would become member of the regional centre that has been engaged in research activities for promotion of olive. The Italian government is already working with Afghanistan and Nepal and Pakistan would be the third member of this centre, he added.

Dr Goraya said that Pakistan has been involved with the Italian government since 1984 for the promotion of olive as three projects were initiated by Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) in this regard earlier. However, he added, the current project was the forth project in this line, which the Italian government gave to the PARC for execution under debt-swap agreement.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Opening Khokhrapar-Munabao border

KARACHI: A Joint Working Group (JWG) is being constituted by Pakistan and India and it will meet soon for deliberations on opening Khokhrapar-Munabao border and air connectivity between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal stated this during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday. He said fostering the process of regional trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and India would bring peace and prosperity to the region.

He applauded steps taken by Pakistan and Indian to enhance bilateral economic and commercial cooperation and to promote peace and prosperity in the region.

He was of the view that excessive sea trade should be converted to land route via road and railways. New dedicated trade gate is being established near ceremonial gate at Wagah border to enhance trading hours up to 12 hours. Previously trading hours were up to five hours from Wagah ceremonial gate, which is also used by visitors.

First time, besides liberalising business visas, tourism visa is introduced in the new visa regime, which will be implemented after ratification by the government of Pakistan, he added.

On issues relating to non-tariff barriers, he said recently signed three agreements between two governments like customs cooperation, agreement on mutual recognition and redressal of grievances would be implemented after completion of all legal formalities to streamline bilateral trade.

The negative list will be dismantled by December 2012 thereafter likely there would be normalised World Trade Organisation trade regime, he maintained. India has reduced its South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) sensitive list by 30 percent from 878 tariff lines to 614 tariff lines. Out of 264 tariff lines being removed, 155 tariff lines are pertaining to agriculture and 106 are related to textile items.

Upon full transition to most-favoured nation status for India by December 2012, India would thereafter bring its SAFTA sensitive list to 100 tariff lines by April 2013 and thereafter Pakistan after seeking the cabinet’s approval would also simultaneously bring down its sensitive list to a maximum of 100 tariff lines in next five years. He said Indian trade regulators met Pakistan businesspersons and had deliberations on bilateral trade issues.

He said pace of economic growth in South Asia was slow and intra-regional trade in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) block was only 5.0 percent while in Association of Southeast Asian Nations, it was 25 percent and EU is about 65 percent.

Consequent to Indo-Pak bilateral talks and its progress, new synergies and opportunities will be created in the SAARC region.

Both countries have to walk the last mile to start moving towards preferential trade by the end of this year, two countries can create an enabling environment while the business communities have to explore new horizons for commercial cooperation, he concluded.

KCCI President Muhammad Haroon Agar recognised and commended efforts of the Indian high commissioner in this regard.

The KCCI firmly believes both countries will have to demonstrate same greater political will to foster relations as shown in negotiations during the last two years.

It is the need of the hour that both governments, besides opening new land routes should positively consider to resume operations of Air India and other private airlines for Pakistan.

The business community had welcomed the moves to establish banks branches to streamline business activities in respective countries and Indian government to allow Pakistani investors for investment in India. Implementation of agreements on customs cooperation, redressal of grievances and agreement of mutual recognition will bring the private sectors of the two countries closer to each other and strengthen business ties, he opined.

Two exhibitions are planned in Karachi with collaboration of Indian counterparts Intexpo Pakistan on November 30, and December 1, 2012 with Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council of India and India Expo from December 21-23 at Expo Centre with Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

So we seek support of Indian high commission for the said exhibitions. One complete hall for Indian pavilion is also planned in 10th My-Karachi Exhibition being held from July 5-7, 2013.

Businessmen Group Chairman Siraj Kassam Teli said KCCI was in the process of forming Bombay-Karachi Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which would act as the driving force to strengthen the trade ties.

The business community of Pakistan would avail more benefits from huge Indian market, he observed.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Pakistan, Turkey agree to improve air-rail-road links

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkey has decided to improve air, rail and road links in order to improve the economic and business relations.

The Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Saleem H. Mandviwalla who is on a official visit to the Republic of Turkey as a Special Envoy of the President of Pakistan; exchange the views on ways and means to improve the economic and commercial interaction between the two countries. It was also stressed to remove any impediments in bilateral trade and investment with the Turkish leadership.

It was sought from both sides to make concerted efforts to meet the target of $ 2 billion bilateral trade by 2012. Mandviwalla brought to the attention of President Gul, the negative impact of safeguard measures imposed by Turkey on Pakistan’s textile exports and underlined the need of urgently concluding a comprehensive Preferential Trade Arrangement between the two countries.

The Turkish leadership is encouraging businessmen to further expand their investment ventures in Pakistan, especially in energy and infrastructure sectors, President Gul said.

In order to boost economic relations and people to people contact, the existing rail, road and air links shall be further improved. Mandviwalla discussed these proposals in a meeting with Turkish minister for Transport, Maritime affairs and Communications, Binali Yildirim. It was agreed on the need on improving existing cargo train operations. Yildirim also suggested increasing the frequency of flights between the two countries. He said Pakistan is a brotherly country and there are many venues of collaboration in trade and investment.

Mandviwalla showed his optimism that existing cargo train “Gul train” running on pilot basis between Pakistan and Turkey is a viable commercial venture. After increasing the frequency of this cargo train, both countries will commence passenger train, Mr. Mandviwalla informed.

Secretary Commerce Munir Qureshi, Ambassador of Pakistan to Turkey Muhammad Haroon Shaukat and Consul General Istanbul Dr. Yusuf Junaid were also present in the meeting.

ONLINE - International News Network

 

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Japan to import mangoes in 2013 on completion of VHT plant

KARACHI: Japan is keen to import mangoes in 2013 from Pakistan on completion of the Vapour Heat Treatment plant (VHT). Naoaki Kamoshida Economic Counselor and Taichi Arioke, Economic adviser, embassy of Japan while talking to Kabir Kazi Secretary TDAP said business promotion policy of Pakistan was quite welcoming for the investors. The delegation congratulated TDAP on the successful conduct of Expo 2012 while Secretary TDAP appreciated the participation of Japan External Trade Organisation in the event in a big way. Both sides exchange views on the issues pertaining to bilateral trade. The 23 member delegation comprising of business executive and top management of Japanese companies from different sectors visited 7th Expo Pakistan.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[A.Rafay]

Better transportation = better trade

Transportation links between Turkey, Pakistan to be improved: Saleem H Mandviwalla - Minister of State (MOS)/Chairman Board of Investment (BOI), Saleem H. Mandviwalla, is currently visiting Turkey as a Special Envoy of the President on Thursday said that the transportation links between Turkey and Pakistan would be improved.
The visit is primarily aimed to exchange the views on ways and means to improve the economic and commercial interaction between the two countries, says a statement issued by the BOI here. It said that Chairman BOI also stressed to remove any impediments in bilateral trade and investment with the Turkish leadership.
During the meeting it was sought from both sides to make concerted efforts to meet the target of US$ 2 billion bilateral trade by 2012.
Mandviwalla brought to the attention of President Gul, underlined the need of urgently concluding a comprehensive Preferential Trade Arrangement between the two countries. The Turkish leadership is encouraging businessmen to further expand their investment ventures in Pakistan, especially in energy and infrastructure sectors, President Gul said.
In order to boost economic relations and people to people contact, the existing rail, road and air links shall be further improved. Mr. Mandviwalla discussed these proposals in a meeting with Turkish minister for Transport, Maritime affairs and Communications, Binali Yildirim.
It was agreed on the need on improving existing cargo train operations. Mr. Yildirim also suggested increasing the frequency of flights between the two countries. He said Pakistan is a brotherly country and there are many venues of collaboration in trade and investment. Mr. Mandviwalla showed his optimism that existing cargo train “Gul train” running on pilot basis between Pakistan and Turkey is a viable commercial venture. After increasing the frequency of this cargo train, both countries will commence passenger train, Mr. Mandviwalla informed.
Secretary Commerce Munir Qureshi, Ambassador of Pakistan to Turkey Muhammad Haroon Shaukat and Consul General Istanbul Dr. Yusuf Junaid were also present in the meeting.

 

[A.Rafay]

Govt allows export of 200,000 tonnes of sugar

ISLAMABAD: In pursuance of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) decision, the government has allowed export of 200,000 tonnes of sugar in addition to leftover quota of already approved export after fulfilling four conditions.

A statement of the Ministry of Commerce on Friday said the conditions would be that 200,000 tonnes of sugar would be exported in addition to leftover quota of already approved export, the export shall be made against E form.

The other conditions would be that a quantity not in excess of 10,000 tonnes shall be allowed to be exported by individual sugar mills and the State Bank of Pakistan will monitor the sugar exports and no form E shall be issued in excess of any individual mill quota and cumulative ceiling mentioned above.

 

[A.Rafay]

Greece wants to boost economic ties with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Greece need to improve their commercial and economic relations to promote bilateral trade and investment by taking advantage of new business opportunities.
Ambassador of Greece to Pakistan Petros Mavroidis while congratulating Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) new President Zafar Bakhtawari said cooperation in solar energy sector could be one of the areas for strengthening economic relations between the two countries as current annual bilateral trade between Greece and Pakistan was very low which was around $500 million and needed to be enhanced by exploring the areas of common interest.
Olive oil is one of the major and well-known products of Greece and is known to be the finest in the world.
Zafar Bakhtawari said Greece has great importance for Pakistan as around 30,000 Pakistanis were working there and contributing in the development of Grecian economy but also giving blood to the Pakistan economy in form of remittances.
He expressed hope Greece would soon be recovered from economic recession and this was the right time to focus on non-traditional markets, frequent exchange of business delegations and establishing direct B2B contacts.
Contacts should be used to exploit untapped bilateral trade and investment potential in both countries.
ICCI is arranging exchange of business delegations with different countries while in near future ICCI will also plan to take a business delegation to Greece.
Investment cooperation was another area in which both countries could collaborate for mutual benefits. Information technology, telecommunication, construction, automobile parts, food processing, fisheries, agriculture, hotel industry and real estate offer tremendous opportunities and potential for cooperation, he added.
Organising joint cultural shows and frequent exchange of business delegations are the options which can bring people of both the countries closer to each other that would eventually enhance the mutual cooperation between Pakistan and Greece.
Alexander the Great was the first cultural integrator between the Asia and Europe and Pakistani nation still consider Alexander as hero.
ICCI, CDA and Greece Embassy in Islamabad would jointly organise a seminar to highlight the contribution of Greece for beautiful city of Islamabad.

 

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Pakistan-Ukraine agree to boost economic ties

Islamabad—Pakistan-Ukraine has agreed to boost bilateral ties in the areas of economic, investment, trade and defence sectors. The Fifth Round of Bilateral Political Consultations between Pakistan and Ukraine which was held in Kyiv two sides reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations.

Ayesha Riyaz, Additional Secretary (Europe), Ministry of Foreign Affairs led Pakistan delegation to the Consultations assisted by the Ambassador Ahmad Nawaz Saleem Mela. The host delegation was headed by Yevgen Myktenko, Special Representative of Ukraine for Middle East (including Pakistan) and Africa. Poliha Igor, Director General assisted him during the talks.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Gryshchenko stated that Ukraine was keen to further strengthen its relations with Pakistan particularly in the economic, trade & investment and defence sectors and he was keenly looking forward to the visit of Foreign Minister Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar to Ukraine. The Additional Secretary by appreciating the Foreign Minister’s views and conveyed Pakistan’s desire to significantly enhance its engagement with Ukraine in diverse areas. She stated that visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister is high on her agenda and she will be visiting Ukraine at the earliest convenience.

During the consultations, the two sides reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations. Both side noted that close and cooperative relationship between Pakistan and Ukraine has progressed steadily ever since independence of Ukraine in 1991. Last two years have particularly witnessed accelerated growth of bilateral relations with a number of important agreements signed/ratified between the two governments including Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation, Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Agreement on Establishment of Pakistan-Ukraine Joint Inter-Ministerial Commission and Agreement on Establishment of Pakistan Ukraine Business Council (PUBC) between FPCCI and UCCI.

Pakistan-Ukraine agree to boost economic ties