Mayor of Kibichou Town of Japan, Yamamoto Masanori has said that despite all the negative advisories and different instructions from concerned authorities to avoid visiting Karachi, he preferred visiting this city which was a secure, peaceful, exciting and one of the most vibrant city of Pakistan with a very bright future.
“I was too much worried of making a safe trip to Karachi but after seeing the hospitality and vibrancy of Karachi, I have no issues and I find myself pretty much comfortable here. I was eager to see Karachi which is a city from where a well-known personality Hakim Muhammad Saeed, who we highly admire, came to Kibichou some 20 years ago”, he added while exchanging views with KCCI office-bearers and managing committee members during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Senior Vice President Asif Nisar, Vice President Muhammad Younus Soomro, Chairman of Diplomatic Missions and Embassies Liaison Sub-Committee Altaf A. Ghaffar, Former President AQ Khalil and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.
Highlighting various products and services available in Kibichou town, the Japanese mayor said that the purpose of his visit was to look for opportunities of exchanging goods and services between Karachi and Kibichou town in order to enhance trade and further improve relations between the two countries.
He also advised Karachi Chamber to send a delegation to Kibichou town which was a Muslim-friendly town, geographically located in the center of Okayama prefecture. “Besides agricultural production, two major industrial zones are also situated in Kibichou town where some blue chip companies have settled their factories and Halal food manufacturers are also active in this town”, he said, adding that the Kibichou town has widely opened its tourism doors to the world especially as a Muslim friendly town.
He was fairly optimistic that his first ever visit to Karachi would prove to be a milestone in furthering the existing relations. “Although on a short trip of just 5 days, but we will try to learn as much as we can about Pakistan and share our experiences in Pakistan with the people in Kibichou. We want to play role in deepening the existing relations between the two countries”, Yamamoto Masanori added.
KCCI President Shamim Ahmed Firpo, while commenting on Pakistan-Japan ties, said both countries have been enjoying healthy bilateral economic relations since 1952 and the strong relations can be gauged from the fact that at present, over 76 Japanese companies were operating in Pakistan.
He said that trade volume between Pakistan and Japan was recorded at $1.6 billion during FY2015-16, of which Pakistan’s exports stood at $197 million and imports were approximately $1.4 billion whereas the overall trade volume was largely in favor of Japan.
He was of the view that there was a huge potential to enhance bilateral trade relations between Japan and Pakistan as Japan fulfilled its large share of grain, textile and surgical goods demand through imports. Hence, Pakistan can tap these segments by exporting its products to Japan which would further boost the bilateral trade volume between the two countries.
Pakistan and Japan must also look for joint ventures in automobile sector by providing training assistance, he added.
He stressed that the project of Karachi Circular Railway should be implemented on fast track as it is a worthwhile investment project which would facilitate Karachi’s commuters with much desired improved transport services, and would also be more environment friendly.
Shamim said that the Karachi Chamber was keen to strengthen trade ties and exploring new bilateral trade prospects with Japan as Pakistan’s improved relations and enhanced trade with countries like Japan would surely help ensure prosperity for both countries.
