Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said that Pakistan was a vibrant market for business and investment and Japanese companies should explore the possibilities of setting up JVs to manufacture automobiles, mobile phones, IT, electronic and other products in Pakistan. He said that Pakistani people have great trust and confidence in the quality of Japanese products and by manufacturing in Pakistan where labour was quite inexpensive, Japanese companies would get immediate penetration in domestic market and boost their exports to many other countries. He said that the current volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Japan was not reflective of the real potential of both countries and both should focus on developing strong business linkages between their private sectors to further improve it. He said this while exchanging views with ISHII Kensuke, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan during his visit to ICCI along with Kuwamura Akinobu, First Secretary. Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, Muhammad Shakir, Muhammad Saeed Khan, and Hafiz Bilal Munir, Executive Board Members of ICCI were also present at the occasion.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that Japan should consider technology transfer to Pakistan, share technical know-how and cooperate in capacity building to enhance the export competitiveness of Pakistan. He said that Japanese companies should take advantage of the business opportunities in investor friendly Special Economic Zones of Pakistan. He said that Japanese cooperation in value addition of agriculture products, fisheries, textiles, food processing, and ICT would help Pakistan in improving exports. He said that Pakistani agro products including mangoes, rice, fisheries and many other products could find a good market in Japan. He said that ICCI was ready to conduct the visit of the Ambassador of Japan to various local industries to show him the export potential of Pakistani products.
ISHI Kensuke, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan thanked Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President ICCI for sharing useful ideas to further enhance bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Japan. He acknowledged Pakistan’s geo-economic location with its connectivity potential as an export destination for Japanese goods and services for the Pakistan market and also to the wider region. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to work for enhancing the mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation in diverse fields between Pakistan and Japan. Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, Muhammad Shakir, Muhammad Saeed Khan, and Hafiz Bilal Munir, Executive Board Members of ICCI also offered useful suggestions for further enhancing trade relations between the two countries.