Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A 10-member delegation of UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UKPCCI) led by its President Ch Muhammad Sadeeq visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and informed that they were planning to organise a “Made in Pakistan” Expo in UK in October 2018 to promote Pakistani products in the British market. The delegation was representing various sectors including chain of hotels and restaurants, real estate, furniture, health, education, importers of rice and food products, livestock and halal meat.

Speaking at the occasion, UKPCCI President Ch Muhammad Sadeeq said that Pakistani community in UK wanted to see a progressive and prosperous Pakistan as they had utmost love for it. He said a 25-member delegation of UKPCCI was visiting Pakistan to attend Karachi Expo and study its market as overseas Pakistani investors in the UK were keen to explore opportunities of joint ventures and investment in various sectors of Pakistan’s economy. He said the delegation had already held fruitful meetings at Karachi and Lahore many delegation members had also finalised business deals in Pakistan.

UKPCCI General Secretary Kamran Khan said that the purpose of their chamber was to promote bilateral trade between Pakistan and UK and UKPCCI would also strive to bring more British investors to Pakistan. He stressed that Pakistani media should highlight positives of Pakistan as projection of negatives was creating misperception among the youth of overseas Pakistanis. He said the ICCI and UKPCCI should set up helpdesks to facilitate members of both chambers for doing business in Pakistan and UK.

Speaking at the occasion, ICCI President Sheikh Amir Waheed said that Pakistan and UK have great potential to enhance bilateral trade from current £2.5 billion to £3 billion and both countries should facilitate frequent exchange of trade delegations to explore untapped areas of mutual cooperation. He said Pakistan was emerging as a potential market for business and investment due to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other rising sectors and stressed that UKPCCI should convince maximum Pakistani investors in the UK to bring technology and investment to Pakistan in areas of interest.

ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed and Vice President Nisar Mirza stressed that both chambers should develop strong liaisons to enhance connectivity between private sectors of Pakistan and UK that would help in promoting bilateral trade between both countries. They said both chambers should extend reciprocal facilitation services to each other’s members so that businessmen of Pakistan and UK could easily visit each other’s countries to explore new business opportunities. The business community of both sides was of the view that big companies were coming to invest in CPEC and both chambers should work together to explore business opportunities for SMEs in CPEC projects. The members of both chambers also held B2B meetings to explore business collaborations with each other in areas of mutual interest.

Published in Daily Times, November 16^th 2017.