H.E. Mrs. Henny Fokel de Vries, Ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan said that her country enjoys strong relations with Pakistan and wants to bolster bilateral trade and investment ties with it. She said this while talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) that called on her, led by Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President.

The Ambassador said that this year marks the 75 years of bilateral relations between Netherlands and Pakistan. She discussed areas of mutual cooperation between Pakistan and Netherlands, especially in agriculture, floriculture, dairy, livestock & water management and added that Pakistan can learn best practices from the Netherlands in these sectors to improve its economy.

Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Netherlands had crossed US$ 2 Billion in 2022, with trade balance in favor of Pakistan, which was encouraging. He said that the Netherlands is the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products and it should share its technology, knowledge and expertise with Pakistan for improving our agricultural productivity. He said that Dutch is very strong in cheese and dairy processing and it should cooperate with Pakistan in this sector so that Pakistani companies could diversify into cheese and dairy processing and production.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI highlighted the lucrative economic avenues present in Pakistan in which both countries can further deepen their economic relations. He also spoke about the possible avenues for mutual collaboration between the Dutch and Pakistani businesses.

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG lauded the progress achieved by the Netherlands, especially in the agriculture sector and invited the Dutch companies to visit Pakistan in order to explore investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, horticulture, dairy, water management and renewable energy. He said that by investing in Pakistan, the Netherlands can increase its exports to many countries.