President Zardari calls for expanding Pak-Japan cooperation in diverse fields

ISLAMABAD : President Asif Ali Zardari has called for expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Japan across a wide spectrum of areas, especially trade, investment, economy, culture and people-to-people contacts and said that Pakistan was a huge market and Japanese businesses should benefit from the economic opportunities by investing in diverse sectors.

The president expressed these views while talking to the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Mitsuhiro Wada, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr Wednesday.

Talking to the ambassador, President Zardari said that both countries had been enjoying long-standing relations, which needed to be further cemented for the mutual benefit of the two sides. He highlighted that Japan had been a key development partner of Pakistan that had been supporting Pakistan’s socio-economic development in different sectors under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He further said that Pakistan had a huge population and could send trained workforce and professionals to help Japan fulfil its requirement for human resources. The president said that Japanese automobile companies, based in Pakistan, should enhance production to export their products from Pakistan. He stated that the Japanese banks should also be encouraged to come back and initiate their operations in Pakistan. The president reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to overcome its current socio-economic challenges.

The Japanese ambassador said that Pakistan had a strategic location and a huge population, and Japanese companies were interested in these potential areas. He called for further strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries. He informed that the export of Pakistani mangoes to Japan was growing.

The ambassador also termed the visit of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to Japan as successful, saying that the young generation of Pakistan could play a strong role in making it a prosperous country. Mitsuhiro Wada warmly congratulated the president on becoming the president for the second time and conveyed the regards of the Japanese Emperor His Majesty Naruhito.

The president thanked the ambassador for the felicitations and asked him to convey his warm regards to the Emperor of Japan. He also fondly recalled his visit to Japan and meeting with the former Emperor of Japan, His Majesty Akihito. He thanked the Japanese government for its support to Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2022.

Later, the ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan, Mohammad Motahar Alashabi, also called on President Asif Ali Zardari and felicitated him on assuming his office. During the meeting, the president said that Pakistan and Yemen enjoyed excellent bilateral relations based on shared bonds of religion, culture and values. Both sides emphasised the need for further increasing mutually beneficial cooperation. The president also thanked the ambassador of Yemen for felicitations.