Punjab Minister for Industries & Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal and Ambassador of Indonesia Adam M Tugio on Monday inaugurated Indonesia-Pakistan business to business (B2B) online portal. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Mian Aslam Iqbal said that Pakistan and Indonesia share deep potential, cultural, religious ties and respect for democratic values. Being the largest countries in the Islamic world, the two stand together for their progress and prosperity. He said that Indonesia-Pakistan preferential trade agreement (PTA) has been beneficial for private businesses of both countries and instrumental in focusing growth in Pakistan. He said that the level of trade and investment between the two countries has not kept pace with global trends. There is considerable untapped potential to expand trade taking advantage of the PTA. He said, “Recent understanding between PBIT and Indonesian Embassy in Pakistan to form a joint working group to facilitate bilateral trade and investments clearly indicates our resolve to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries.” The provincial minister said, “As a result of bold economic reforms of the government of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, we have achieved significant improvement in all major economic indicators; Pakistan’s economic growth has increased despite the challenges of Covid-19.” He said Punjab has taken regional lead in special economic zone development and colonisation. “I invite the business communities of both countries to make use of the attractive incentives package available in our special economic zones (SEZs) and export processing zones (EPZs) and set up their manufacturing units.” Speaking on the occasion, Indonesian Ambassador Adam M Tugio congratulated the Punjab government and Punjab Board of Investment & Trade for holding a successful event. He said the embassy will convene a series of events to promote tourism and investment. This series of activities will be complementary to cultural diplomacy i.e. being conducted by the embassy in collaboration with ECommerce Gateway Pakistan. He hoped that such activities would enhance people-to-people contacts and increase trade volume which amounted to $2.5 billion last year. CEO PBIT Dr Erfa Iqbal briefed on various sectors and availability of numerous potential opportunities for investors in Punjab. She pointed out that special economic zones are being set up in all the provinces and regions of Pakistan. Vice President E-Commerce Gateway Pakistan Uzair Nizam underscored that such events play a vital role in increasing bilateral trade between the two countries as well as hosting economy and business activities. Under the Punjab Board of Investment & Trade, the embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and E-Commerce Gateway Pakistan Private Limited jointly organised 1st Indonesia–Pakistan B2B hybrid road show 2021 and launched Indonesia–Pakistan B2B online portal to facilitate increase trade between both the countries by providing a platform for business communities of the two countries to get more information which may have to increase commercial transactions potential various fields such as health, pharmaceutical, food, agriculture, textile and furniture.