A delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) led by Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari President met with Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and exchanged with him the ideas for promoting Pakistan’s trade and exports by focusing on trade diplomacy.

Addressing the delegation, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Additional Secretary (Asia Pacific), Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that ASEAN, Central Asia and Africa are huge markets for Pakistan, but still remain untapped and stressed that the business community should focus on these markets to improve Pakistan’s trade and exports. He said that Pakistan is producing quality pharmaceuticals and many other products, which can gain good market share in these promising regions. He said that the business community should play a role for joint ventures with foreign counterparts and technology transfer to Pakistan to upgrade the production capacity of the country. He assured that he would fully cooperate with the private sector in exploring new markets for improving the country’s exports.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan needs to focus on trade diplomacy to boost prosperity and economic growth. He said that the role of Pakistani diplomats in foreign countries is very important in identifying new avenues for promoting Pakistani exports. He said that by utilizing trade diplomacy, Pakistan can attract more foreign investment and secure advantageous trade agreements with foreign countries to promote economic growth and lessen the dependence on foreign loans. He said that ICCI is planning to organize a Pakistan-ASEAN Business Forum to explore potential areas of business collaboration with ASEAN countries. He said that a delegation of ICCI has already visited Indonesia and another delegation is going to Thailand to explore these markets for business opportunities. He said that ICCI would work closely with MOFA to strengthen the trade diplomacy of the country.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that the close cooperation of Pakistani diplomats in foreign countries with the chambers of commerce is very important to promote business and economic interests of Pakistan in the international market and stressed that the diplomats should provide full support to Pakistani business delegations during their visit to foreign countries.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President and Secretary General UBG Pakistan said that countries are not shifting their focus from geopolitics to geoeconomics to boost business and investment and stressed that the Pakistani foreign diplomats should join hands with the private sector of Pakistan to bring a revolution in exports promotion and bring economic prosperity to the country. He stressed for direct flights and FTAs with ASEAN countries to improve Pakistan’s trade and exports.

Maqsood Tabish, Rizwan Cheena and others members of ICCI delegation also shared useful ideas to promote Pakistan’s trade diplomacy in cooperation with the ministry of foreign affairs.