A German delegation led by Matthew De Shaw, Country Head Pakistan of the German Association of Small and Medium Size Businesses (BVMW) visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to discuss collaboration between the SMEs of Germany and Pakistan to achieve win-win results for both countries. Pervez Akhtar, President, German-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce also accompanied the delegation.

Addressing the delegation, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Pakistan offers good opportunities to foreign investors and German SMEs should explore Pakistan for JVs and investment. He said that Germany is a very important country for Pakistan and we want to further strengthen business and investment relations between the two countries. He said that Pakistan and Germany should focus on improving bilateral trade as the current trade volume between them is not up to the desired level. He said that ICCI would like to work with BVMW to promote direct connectivity between the SMEs of both countries. He said that Pakistan's population is young while the population of Europe and Germany is aging. Germany needs skilled manpower to continue its economic journey. He said that Pakistan can export nurses and other trained manpower to Europe and Germany. He said that Pakistan is producing thousands of IT graduates every year. German IT companies should open their offices in Pakistan and take advantage of this huge human capital. He said that German companies should use the ICCI platform to improve B2B relations with local SMEs.

Speaking on the occasion, Matthew De Shaw, Country Head Pakistan of the German Association of Small Businesses (BVMW), said that there are immense possibilities for cooperation between the SMEs of Germany and Pakistan. His organization is taking steps to connect SMEs in both countries. He said that Pakistan is a large market and the German business community wants to take advantage of its potential. The experiences of German companies in terms of investment in Pakistan are excellent. We need to learn from these experiences to further strengthen cooperation between the private sectors of both countries.

Akhtar Parvez, President of German-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, said that German companies want to invest in Pakistan. Our Chamber is working to facilitate them. The Pakistani business community should benefit from the opportunities available in Germany and focus on technology transfer.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam, Vice President ICCI stressed for regular exchange of business delegations between Pakistan and Germany to explore all untapped areas of cooperation.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan emphasized that the Lufthansa airline should start direct flights between Germany and Pakistan which would start a new phase of growing bilateral trade relations between the two countries.