Islamabad ( ) A delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President visited Italy and held meetings with Milan Chamber of Commerce, Promos Italia and Assolombarda to explore avenues of business collaboration between the entrepreneurs of Pakistan and Italy. Promos Italia is a National Agency of the Chamber of Commerce network of Italy and Assolombarda is the association of companies operating in the Metropolitan City of Milan and in the provinces of Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia. Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh, Ch. Javed Iqbal, Humayun Kabir, Shahbaz Majeed Sheikh, Ch. Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Muhammad Ejaz and Akhtar Hussain were in the delegation. Ms. Aqsa Nawaz, Pakistan Consul General in Milan, Italy arranged the meetings of ICCI delegations with Italian trade bodies.

Speaking on the occasion, Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Pakistan considers Italy an important country of European Union for trade and exports and ICCI delegation has come to Italy to explore new areas of business collaboration between the two countries. He said that close cooperation between the SMEs of Pakistan and Italy would be helpful in sharing experiences and promoting bilateral business relations. He said that Pakistan possesses great reserves of marble & granite and import of latest marble machinery from Italy can help produce value-added marble products and increase their exports. He said that Pakistan can import industrial & agricultural machinery from Italy while Italy can import many products from Pakistan including raw materials, textiles, surgical instruments, marble products, pharmaceuticals, leather products, sports goods and others. He invited Italian entrepreneurs to visit Pakistan to explore JVs and investment in areas of interest.

Welcoming the ICCI delegation, Federico Maria Bega, Chief Strategy Officer of Promos Italia said that their organization is working to support SMEs internationalisation, preparing them to export and helping them consolidate their positioning in international markets. He said that Promos Italia is active in more than 110 countries, due to its wide international network of relationships and partnerships with public and private sectors. He said that close cooperation between Promos Italia and ICCI would create beneficial outcomes for the SMEs of both countries.

Muhammad Shakeel Munir former President, Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh, former Senior Vice President ICCI and other members of ICCI delegation also shared useful proposals to improve bilateral trade and economic ties between Pakistan and Italy.