Bundestag ratifies Investment Treaty

The Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), signed by Germany and Pakistan in 2009, has been ratified by German parliament, which has sent it to the European Commission for final approval, Pakistan''s Ambassador to Germany, Shahid Kamal, told PPI here on Saturday.
Under the BIT, investors of both countries will be given protection and there will be more German investment in Pakistan in the next 3 to 5 years, Kamal said, adding that Pakistan''s exports to Germany during 2011 calendar year would be around $1.5 billion, with balance of trade in favour of Pakistan, against $700 million of last year.
Quoting official German statistics, he said that trade between the two countries from January to July 2011 was $800 million, 45 percent more than 2010. Germany, which is largest economy in Europe, was 5th largest investor in Pakistan in 2009 and 2010. "We are trying to set up German-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce, which will enhance connectivity between the private sectors of both countries," he stated. He spoke of immense prospects to export rice, fruits, vegetables to Germany whose prices were rising.
He said that Germany was supporting Pakistan to European Union (EU) member states in G plus and greater market access to EU member states. He said that under an agreement signed recently, German government will provide economic assistance of $58 million for training in electronics, mechanics to Pakistanis over a period of five years.
Shahid said that another $85 million German economic co-operation with Pakistan was also underway in ''renewable, wind and solar energy'', which will help overcome load shedding in the country. He said that 340 Ph D Pakistanis were working in German universities.
German Consul-General in Karachi Dr Tilo Klinner, who was also present, said that under German economic co-operation program, Pakistanis will be given vocational training in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and in Sindh it will be under public-private partnership. Dr Klinner said German government will co-host an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn on December 5, 2011.