Germany keen to promote bilateral trade relations

ISLAMABAD, Feb 03 (APP):Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck Monday said that Germany wanted to further enhance trade relations with Pakistan.

He said that two German delegations, one representing water & sanitation sector and the other representing agriculture sector were scheduled to visit Pakistan to explore business collaborations with Pakistani counterparts.

He said that Pak-German bilateral trade was over 3 billion Euros with trade balance in favour of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was mostly exporting textiles, leather products and surgical instruments to Germany and it could export more products to his country.

He was hopeful that Pakistan would get good news for extension in GSP Plus status from EU that would further improve its exports. He expressed these views while interacting with business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The German Ambassador said that over 280 Pakistani companies participated in the Heimtextil 2020 International Trade Fair held recently in Frankfurt (Germany), which was a record participation and added that companies of  both countries should actively participate in each other’s trade fairs to further enhance bilateral trade and business relations.

He said that Pakistan should also organize more trade fairs to attract foreign investors. He said that he had discussed with the Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Germany the possibility of organizing joint tours by the Pakistani and German chambers of commerce and industry that would further strengthen trade cooperation between the two countries.

He said that he would work for promoting B2B interactions, but businessmen of both sides have to make more efforts to explore business match makings. He said he was ready to cooperate with ICCI for visit of its delegation to Germany.

Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry apprised the Germany envoy about the business and investment opportunities in Pakistan.

He said that German had advanced technology and its investors should come to Pakistan with technology transfer to setup JVs for producing value added products that would boost our exports.

He said that Pakistan provided easy access to Central Asian countries while CPEC offered great potential to foreign investors and stressed that German investors should take benefit of these opportunities by investing in Pakistan.

He said IT and pharmaceutical sectors were other potential areas for mutual cooperation between the two countries. Mian Akram Farid Chairman Founder Group said that German auto companies should explore setting up manufacturing plants in Pakistan as its quality vehicles could find a good market in Pakistan. He lauded the positive contribution of Germany’s GIZ, especially in vocational education and technical trainings.