Daily Times

Ambassador of United Arab Emirates to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi on Friday invited Pakistani investors to explore UAE for business and investment activities.

He said that the UAE was connected to over 250 cities around the world and investing in UAE would enable Pakistani investors to promote exports to many parts of the world. He said this while addressing as Chief Guest at Explore UAE event organized at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with UAE Embassy.

He said that UAE was emerging as a hub of trade and investment activities and was striving to attract $150 billion of inward investment by 2030. It was the right time for focusing on that market, he said adding that this year, UAE and Pakistan were celebrating 50 years of unique brotherly relations, which should be transformed into growing trade and economic relations, he added. Ahmed Mohammad Aljneibi, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of UAE gave a detailed presentation to the business community on Invest Emirates.

He said that UAE was an ideal destination for investment as it had a low-tax environment and offered new opportunities for investment across both mainland and free zones. He highlighted transportation, storage & construction, agriculture, industrial manufacturing, renewable energy, hospitality, information & communication, professional, scientific & technical activities, administrative & support services, educational activities, healthcare and arts & entertainment as potential areas of investment in UAE. Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that UAE had emerged as one of the major trading partners of Pakistan and they would like to further strengthen trade ties with it. He said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and UAE in 2021-22 had crossed the USD 10 billion mark, which could be further enhanced with strong efforts from both sides.

He said that Pakistani exports to UAE included garments, food items, meat, cereals, agricultural products, fruits and vegetables. There was great potential for exports of many other Pakistani products to UAE including financial and software-related products, mangoes, oranges, kinos & rice, he added. He urged the UAE to take advantage of these products by importing them from Pakistan. He said that many UAE companies were already doing successful business in Pakistan and more should come to capitalize on the investment opportunities available in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy. He also thanked the UAE government for providing generous support to Pakistan for the flood affectees.

Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh, Senior Vice President and Muhammad Faheem Khan Vice President ICCI thanked the visiting guests of UAE for highlighting investment potential in UAE and hoped that ICCI members would try to take benefit of these opportunities. Mian Akram Farid, Zubair Ahmed Malik, Mian Shaukat Masud, Mohsin Khalid, some women entrepreneurs and others asked many questions about investment in UAE and got detailed answers from the visiting guests.