Italy wants to boost ties with Pakistan, says envoy

LAHORE:Italian Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese has said the Italian government is committed to strengthening ties with Pakistan wherever it finds any opportunity for mutual collaborations.

The ambassador said this during his visit to Italy-Pakistan Footwear Technological Centre (IPFTC). The project is a joint venture of Pakistan and Italy through Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA) collaboration.

The IPFTC is equipped with a CAD-CAM pattern grading, cutting and a mechanical physical tests laboratory for footwear. All the machinery and technical assistance for this project have been provided by the Italian government and from Pakistan side PFMA has provided managerial support, premises, paid costs of transportation and customs duty on equipment imported for this facility.

Andreas Ferrarese lauded the project progress and praised PFMA chairman on successful running of the project. “I hold in high esteem the commitments of PFMA Imran Malik to turn this project into reality. IPFTC’s state of the art machinery will enable PFMA and its members to tackle every changing need of this industry”, he believed.

He said the cooperation will strengthen Italy conventional brotherhood ties with Pakistan and help industry to explore better opportunities in each other country. I am overwhelmed to see its progress under PFMA management and hopeful that this trend continues to improve as we progress further, he added. Andreas Ferrarese said the youth of Pakistan was full of high potential if utilised properly by enhancing their skills to make them productive.

Indeed, the project of IPFTC aims to train the youth in an innovative way to take full advantage of the footwear industry and to earn their livelihood in a graceful manner, he said.

Earlier, PFMA Chairman Imran Malik briefed the ambassador on progress and project success. He said IPFTC has strengthened industrial ties between the two countries and enabled local producers to enhance their productivity to bring it at par excellence with international standards. He appreciated the efforts of Dr Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner, ITA ASSOMAC and PISIE to make this project successful. Latter, the ambassador also met 1st batch of the student designers at IPFTC.