The Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Vincenzo Prati has said the Italian government is ready to support Pakistan in the technical and mechanical sectors whenever their assistance is required.
He was addressing a press conference at the Ravi Automobile Ltd, a company of Ravi Pakistan. “We want to support Pakistan’s development process, especially on the mechanical sector, which is the strength of Italy,” he said, adding that Italy is well aware of the potential of Pakistan’s two-wheeler market and is ready to contribute to the development of this sector.
He said that the prospects of Pakistan’s economy were very attractive despite the crisis.
“We are impressed by the quality of manufacturing at Ravi Motorcycle’s manufacturing facilities,” the ambassador said after having visited different manufacturing facilities of Ravi Pakistan. He believed that Ravi Piaggio Strom 125, the motorcycle manufactured by Ravi Automobile, in collaboration with Piaggio Italy, was the real successor of Vespa, the Italian brand that dominated two-wheeler market in Pakistan for more than five decades.
Appreciating the efforts of the Punjab chief minister for the promotion of bilateral economic relations of Italy and Pakistan, he said Shahbaz Sharif was very keen to enhance the trade relations between the two countries and sought Italian cooperation in this regard.
Italian Embassy Head of Economic and Commercial Office and First Secretary Dr Federico Bianchi also accompanied the ambassador during the visit. He said the Piaagio group had already focused on Asia and had started manufacturing in China, India and Vietnam and that Italy is trading with Pakistan in many sectors, including technology and garments.
Ravi Pakistan Director Fahad Iqbal thanked the Italian ambassador and first secretary for their visit. He emphasised that Pakistan’s relations with Italy are vital for the economic growth of the country. The ambassador and first secretary visited different manufacturing facilities of Ravi Pakistan and were briefed on the operations of the Ravi group companies.
