President Asif Ali Zardari said Monday that the trade volume between Pakistan and Japan is below the potential, which should be boosted by increasing economic relations of two sides. He was talking to the Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan Hiroshi Oe, who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr. During meeting matters relating to bilateral relations and enhancing mutual cooperation in various sectors particularly promotion of trade and investment between the two countries were discussed.President Zardari said that Japan had always been in the forefronts whenever people of Pakistan faced any difficult time. He said that as Pakistan and Japan are celebrating 60th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, so it is the high time for the two countries to focus on broadening the scope of mutual cooperation and to extend it to the areas of trade, investment, energy and infrastructure development, fisheries and dairy sectors. The President said Pakistan was cognizant of the constructive role of Japan in the global and Asian affairs and it sees Japan as an important player for peace, progress, cooperation and stability in the world. He said that Pakistan with its proven natural resources of 186 billion tons of coal and huge reserves of natural gas offered great opportunities to Japanese investors to invest in the energy and agriculture sectors in Pakistan. “We look forward to Japanese assistance in market oriented capacity building of Pakistani manufacturers, growers and designers in terms of internal level processing, packaging and designing standards”, he added. President Zardari also appreciated the Japanese response in providing relief to the flood victims in Pakistan as well as its role at the forum of Friends of Democratic Pakistan. Meanwhile, Zhang Hongwei, Chairman Orient Group of China, today called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr. He was accompanied by Ms. Christine Fu, President United Energy Group (UEG), Mr. Song Yu, Vice President UEG, Mr. Tariq Khamisani, President UEG Petroleum Pakistan, Mr. Lin Yang and Mr. Zhang Wei. Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Mr. Liu Jian was also present.Senator Dr. Asim Hussain, Petroleum Minister, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Water & Power, Mr. M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar, Pak Ambassador to China Mr. Masood Khan and other senior officials were present from Pak side. Chairman Orient Group briefed the President about his company’s business ventures in Pakistan.
