MULTAN: Italy has shown keen interest in bilateral trade with Pakistan, said Italian Deputy Trade Commissioner AR Daudpota. In a meeting with Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi here on Friday, Daudpota said that a 58-member Italian trade delegation would visit Pakistan from November 5 (today) to discuss viabilities in bilateral trade with Pakistan.
The delegation would have representatives from all Italian sectors of economy in addition to the heads of different associations, he added. Daudpota said that another high-powered Italian delegation would visit Pakistan on December 7 under the leadership of the Italian state minister.
He said that the delegation would have representatives of 80 Italian companies from textile, leather, footwear, infrastructure, information technology, renewable energy, agriculture and automotive sectors.
MCCI president Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi suggested that the delegation should also visit south Punjab to explore opportunities for trade and investment. He said: “Italy’s main industries are tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear and ceramics.” He said that the joint ventures between private sectors of the two countries could help enhance mutual trade volume. Jalaluddin Roomi said that Italy was an important trading partner of Pakistan in Europe, which came at 5th and 3rd places respectively among the top exporting and importing destinations for Pakistan in the European Union. He said that the balance of trade favoured Pakistan and it was encouraging to see that volume of bilateral trade was being maintained over $1 billion.
Jalaluddin Roomi said that the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry would like to develop a close liaison with the Italian Trade Commission Office in Pakistan to exchange important information related to trade. He hoped that the Italian embassy would play an active role in projecting Pakistan as a safe place to invest and trade.
FAISALABAD: Italian Deputy Trade Commissioner AR Daudpota has offered to arrange a meeting of local businessmen with the Italian trade delegation, which would arrive in Pakistan on November 5. On November 5, various sector specific seminars would be held in a hotel in Islamabad while on November 6, the delegation members would have B2B meetings with local businessmen, he added. Later, the delegation would also visit Lahore to have the B2B meetings. He further said that an Italian trade delegation would also visit Faisalabad in January next year.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) president Muhammad Saeed Sheikh stressed the need for frequent exchange of trade delegations between Faisalabad and Italy to give a quantum jump to the bilateral trade between the two countries. He said that textile was the mainstay of the national economy. Out of total $13 billion textile exports, the share of Faisalabad was around $6 billion, he added. He said that being situated in the heart of Pakistan, Faisalabad was the best location for safe investment, particularly in export oriented projects, he added.