Pakistan to become a regional economic hub soon: Pak envoy

Pakistan has always been a potentially rich country. Now it has the resolve to realize that potential, making Pakistan a regional economic hub sooner than one may imagine. Democracy has begun paying its dividends, Ambassador Abdul Basit said while addressing the participants of the “Pakistan Business Day: Post Election Politico-Economic Scene” held at German Foreign Office under the aegis of Asia Pacific Week Berlin-2013.
The event was organized by the Pakistan Embassy in collaboration with Pakistan-German Business Forum and the Social Sciences Research Center Berlin. Ambassador Basit said that Pakistan straddling South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia had the unique geo-economic advantage. The country also was more competitive and offered far better and easier investment regulatory frameworks than other countries in the region. Companies in the West therefore should look at Pakistan as a country serving three sub regions with the population of over close to three billion.
Referring to Pak-German economic and trade relations, Basit said that Road Map for Strategic Dialogue between the two countries provided a perfect political frame work to move forward in many sectors including economic, trade, and investment and surely these relations would expand and strengthen in the coming days.
Replying to a question during the Q&A Session, Basit said that the civil society, media and the youth had been playing a very positive role to shaping up a moderate, progressive and tolerant society and Pakistan in near future would be different from the one that the world had seen in the last decade. Dr Stephan Oswald, Director General, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in his address said that Germany would continue its support to Pakistan in its endeavor to better the lives of people of Pakistan.
German Foreign Minister, Dr Guido Wester Welle’s visit to Pakistan soon after the take over by the newly elected government was a strong signal that the Germany attached high importance to its relations with Pakistan ,Mr Oswald added.
Jan Herff of BASF Group Germany made a presentation on Group’s investments and its experiences in Pakistan. He said that the BASF entered into Chemical sector of Pakistan in 1969 and witnessed a steady growth touching its revenue to euro 120 million in 2012.Pakistan is a growing economy and entrepreneurships with a favorable demography and culture and provides a lot of opportunities for investment, he added.
Adnan Rizvi of KPMG-Taseer Hadi & Co. Pakistan made a presentation on Investment Opportunities and Challenges in Pakistan. Mr. Hans juergen Paschke, Consul and Deputy Head of Mission, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Karachi, in his address, highlighted Pak-German cooperation in the field of development of skilled labour and vocational training in Pakistan. Horst Roessler, Consultant to Pakistan German Business Forum briefed the participants about various activities being undertaken by the Forum to promote trade and business between the two countries.
Earlier, Dr Talat Mahmood, president Pakistan Forum , Asia Pacific Forum Berlin welcomed the participants and gave a brief review of challenges the country was facing in economic and energy sectors and the investment opportunities available in these sectors.