Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan wants to strengthen its bilateral trade and investment relations with Iraq in the traditional and non-traditional sectors that would be mutually beneficial for both countries and Pakistan embassy in Iraq should cooperate with the business community in achieving this goal. He said this while talking to Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmed, Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Iraq during his Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI).

Ahsan Bakhtawari said that Pakistan and Iraq have good potential to develop strong cooperation in diverse fields including trade & industry, agriculture, tourism, energy, health, defence production. He said that Pakistan can export many products to Iraq including textiles, pharmaceuticals, rice, food products and can import oil from Iraq. He stressed that the Pakistan embassy in Iraq should identify the demand for Pakistani products and manpower in the Iraqi market and share such information with ICCI so that the business community could capture better market share in Iraq.

Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmed, Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate said that he would make all possible efforts to explore new avenues for promoting Pakistan’s trade and exports with Iraq. He said that Iraq is developing as a new market for investors. China has made big investments in Iraq and Pakistani investors should also explore Iraq for business partnerships and investment. He said that Iraq is in a reconstruction phase with huge demand for skilled manpower and Pakistani skilled workers can find good opportunities in Iraq. He said that ICCI should share a list of sectors that have good potential to do business with Iraq and he would cooperate in connecting them with relevant Iraqi counterparts for business cooperation. He also discussed various possibilities with the business community to further improve bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Iraq.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan needs to focus on regional trade to improve its economy and said that Pakistani diplomats in Iran, Iraq and Turkey can play a positive role in promoting Pakistan’s trade with this regional block.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan stressed the need of direct air links between Pakistan and Iraq to improve people-to-people and trade ties between the two countries.

Raja Imtiaz, Maqsood Tabish, Sheikh Muhammad Ejaz, Muhammad Shabbir, Khalid Chaudhry and others also shared useful ideas to improve Pakistan-Iraq bilateral trade ties in various sectors.