H.E. Mr. Abdusalam Saddam Mohaisen, Ambassador of Iraq said that his country wanted to enhance bilateral trade with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to increase business and economic cooperation in many fields. He said this while exchanging views with business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Envoy said that Iraq offered great investment opportunities to Pakistani investors and both sides should focus on exchange of trade delegations to identify all potential areas of mutual cooperation. He said that Iraqi businessmen were lacking information about business opportunities in Pakistan and added that regular interaction between the private sectors of both countries was necessary to take bilateral trade to higher levels. He said more than 100,000 Pakistani Arba’een visas were issued this year for visiting Iraq. Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Ahmed Waheed said that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iraq was not reflective of their actual potential and more efforts from both sides were needed to improve it. He said that many Pakistani products including cement, steel, marble & granite, pharmaceuticals, rice, fruits and vegetables could find good market in Iraq and desired that Iraq should focus on enhancing its imports from Pakistan to provide quality products to its citizens at competitive prices. He said that many Pakistani products including rice were going to Iraq via third country and emphasized that both governments should facilitate private sectors in direct trade to achieve better results. He said that Pakistan has formed liberal investment regime for investors and Iraqi investors should explore Pakistan for business opportunities. Tahir Abbasi Senior Vice President ICCI, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Khalid Chaudhry and others also spoke at the occasion and highlighted many areas for mutual cooperation between the two countries including construction, engineering and other fields.