Pakistan is a safe country and good business destination for the foreigners and Canada highly values its relations with Pakistan and keen to further strengthening its economic ties with this country that is an important destination of the region.
These views were expressed by Patrick Brown, the Leader of Opposition and head of the delegation of Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Vice President Nasir Saeed, Senator Salma Ataullah Jan, President of Canada Pakistan Business Council Samir Dossal, Acting High Commissioner Andrew Turner, President All Pakistan Business Forum Ibrahim Qureshi, Fiona Sioban Brown, Geneieve Gualtieri, Adam Ibrahim, Ahmed Attia and Mian Ashraf also spoke on the occasion.
Brown said that Pakistan had a huge potential particularly for the Canadian businessmen.
He stressed the need for close contacts between the businessmen through use of modern technology to develop deep and lasting relations and networks for sharing each other’s experiences.
He said that they would play their role for increasing bilateral trade between the two countries, asserting that Pakistani businessmen should initiate joint ventures with their Canadian counterparts.
The Canadian delegation leader spoke highly about Pakistan and said that he would share his experience of Pakistan with fellow parliamentarians and utilize all his resources to highlight soft image of Pakistan.
The existing volume of bilateral trade has no match with potential in two countries, he said and added that Canada has expertise in green technology that could be of great benefit to Pakistan.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that visit of Canadian delegation would help explore such business opportunities where people from both the countries could jointly start business ventures.
He said that Pakistan is not only self-sufficient in food sector but also has the capacity to supply processed food. “Through major food chains we can significantly increase its demand,” he viewed. He said that development work of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was being carried out at good pace and its total worth was almost $ 46 billion.
It is a big opportunity with regard to economic future of Pakistan. “We urge the Canadian investors to also participate in it. Pakistan has yet to overcome the energy crisis. You can play a role in encouraging relevant Canadian companies to initiate power projects in Pakistan capable of generating electricity through hydel, thermal, solar, bio and alternate resources,” he maintained.
He said, “In recent years, Pakistan has gained further political stability and we hoped that we will soon start reaping the fruit of attaining political maturity.”
The LCCI president said the trade figures between Canada and Pakistan:
in 2013, the total volume of bilateral trade was dollar 356 million which surged to $ 582 million in 2014.
The main reason of that increase was substantial rise in imports from Canada which went up from $ 122 million to $ 358 million.
In contrast to that our exports to Canada fell from $ 234 million to $ 224 million in the same period of time.
On this occasion, LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed said, “In the present scenario of trade, we wish that balance of trade be in favour of Pakistan and our products can have easy access to the markets of Ontario in particular and of Canada in general. Your support is desperately needed in this connection.”
Nasir Saeed said that economic condition of Ontario was much stronger as compared to other provinces of Canada and its sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, mining and service were fairly developed.
“I will propose that there should be exchange of delegations comprising experts from these sectors so that knowledge sharing and transfer of technology can become possible. It is needless to mention that the role of Canadian High Commission and Honorary Consul of Canada is important in this regard.”
He said that in terms of tourism, Pakistan is a beautiful and historical country and you would be amused by its scenic beauty.
“Pakistanis are peace loving nation and desirous of peace. You must have witnessed that there is no such situation in Pakistan which is mostly portrayed by international media.”
