On Behalf of the business and trading community, FPCCI president Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo has appreciated the detailed presentation by H.E. Khazar Farhadov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Pakistan, on the potential and scope of bilateral trade and investments.
He added that Business-to-Business (B2B) and People-to-People (P2P) linkages, relations, and joint activities ultimately translate into bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation. He called for an MoU between the apex federal chambers of both the countries for fast-tracking B2B cooperation.
Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo said that Azerbaijan can benefit from world-class textiles, fruits, rice, surgical goods, pharmaceuticals, and IT expertise of Pakistan at competitive rates, while the game-changer land-based cargo transportation route has kicked off between Pakistan-Azerbaijan-Turkey under TIR Convention through cargo trucks. He called on traders on both sides to make full use of the cost-effective, time-saving, and dependable alternative that TIR has provided; as cargo trucks can reach Azerbaijan from Pakistan in merely 5 days.
H.E. Khazar Farhadov apprised the august gathering of top business, trade, and industry leaders of Pakistan, who were assembled at the Federation House Karachi, that Azerbaijan is whole-heartedly looking forward to Pakistani investors to invest in Azerbaijan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that provide inexpensive land, lower taxes, investor protection, no regulatory interference, reliable utilities; and, has all the infrastructure in place – including, road, rail, and airport network.
Ather Sultan Chawla, VP FPCCI, said that both the brotherly countries can complement the food security of each other through enhanced bilateral trade volumes of raw and processed food products and exchange of knowledge. He also called for an open-door and facilitative visa regime for the Pakistani business community to promote economic and commercial tourism to enable better understanding and exploration of trade, investment, and joint venture opportunities.
Engr. M.A. Jabbar, former VP FPCCI, said that Pakistani investors and entrepreneurs will be willing to invest; and build partnerships and joint ventures, if there are no unnecessary governmental and regulatory interferences and inspections. He added that unfortunately, in Pakistan, the manufacturers have to endure as many as 57 regulatory inspections from various governmental ministries, departments, and institutions; and that translates into a lot of wastage of precious time. He also enquired about the investment opportunities in the rest of Azerbaijan, i.e., outside of SEZs, for their ease of doing business and the cost of doing business environs.