China is keen to boost trade & investment relations with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Consulate General of Pakistan in Guangzhou and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with Department of Commerce of Fujian province of China organised the Fujian–Pakistan Two-Way Trade Online Promotion Conference’ on Wednesday.

The conference focused on promoting direct business linkages between entrepreneurs from Pakistan and China’s Fujian province to further enhance bilateral trade and explore joint ventures in potential areas of mutual interest between the two countries.

ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed while addressing the conference said that organizing such video conferences between the private sectors of both countries is important to explore prospects for business match makings and trade promotion, especially at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has severely restricted international travel.

Huang Dezhi, Deputy Director General of the Department of Commerce of Fujian province, in his address said that Pakistan and China are strategic partners and the leadership of both countries is determined to further strengthen economic ties. He said that China’s Fujian province wants to diversify cooperation with Pakistan to further expand bilateral trade.

He said that CPEC is creating new opportunities for long-term cooperation between the two countries and added that Fujian is ready for increased industrial cooperation with Pakistan with technology transfer to further develop its industrial sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Consul General of Pakistan in Guangzhou Dr Diyar Khan, said that organising online conferences between the entrepreneurs of Pakistan and Fujian in post-Covid-19 scenario is a good initiative to explore bilateral trade. He said Fujian is a gateway for South East China and Pakistan can achieve beneficial results for its economy by strengthening cooperation with it.

He said Pak-Fujian bilateral trade stands at around $1 billion, which can be further enhanced by more efforts from both sides. He said that China-Pakistan Joint Business and Investment Council should be activated to further strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.

Former ICCI senior vice president Muhammad Shakeel Munir, highlighted the potential of Pakistan’s marble and granite sector and stressed that Chinese investors should explore joint ventures and investment in Pakistan to produce value added finished marble products that have great potential for exports around the world.