German govt, businesses keen to strengthen bilateral trade ties: Usman

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Representative in German Emirati Joint Council for Industry & Commerce (AHK) Muhammad Usman has said that German government and businesses have been looking towards Pakistan in recent years for strengthening business and investment ties which was the basic reason for establishment of Pakistan’s desk at AHK in Dubai.

“Germany desires to expand ties of German Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with Pakistan which would be fully facilitated by AHK by connecting the business communities of the two countries through networking, business-to-business meetings and trade delegations’ visits”, added Muhammad Usman who led a trade delegation from German Emirati Council for Industry & Commerce (AHK) during its visit to KCCI.

Deputy Head of Mission at German Consulate in Karachi Andreas Wegner, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, Senior Vice President Altaf A. Ghaffar, Vice President Tanveer Ahmed Barry, Chairman Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Farooq Afzal, Chairman Fairs, Exhibitions & Trade Delegations Subcommittee Sohail Ahmed, Former President Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra and KCCI Managing Committee Members along with members of German trade delegation were also present on the occasion.

Leader of German delegation informed that AHK, which is based in Germany, is represented in 93 countries through more than 130 Chambers of Commerce around the world. “Since last year in the month of March, we expanded our services to Pakistan by opening a Pakistan desk in Dubai which is headed by myself. We are responsible for the whole region including UAE, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan and we also have offices in Iraq”, he added.

Agreeing to President KCCI’s suggestions about potential sectors, he said that the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action also underlines Renewable Energy as one of the potential sectors along with sustainable textile & leather sectors.

“We are working on different initiatives of German government especially the market development program of German SMEs who will be fully facilitated and encouraged to collaborate with Pakistani counterparts so German companies will definitely be coming to Pakistan to collaborate with different stakeholders in the public and private sectors.”, he said, adding that as most of the German Companies are based in Dubai, it would be very easy for AHK to connect them with Pakistan.

He informed that many German SMEs were looking towards new opportunities especially in this region where China and India were neighbors. “We’ve hosted several delegations during the last three years including delegations from healthcare sector and civil security technologies. Next year, we have two projects, of which the first one pertains to exploring possibilities of collaboration in sustainable textile and leather while the second one is going to be the energy infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

Earlier, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh while welcoming members of German delegation based in Dubai, stated that Pakistan and Germany have been enjoying warm friendly bilateral diplomatic ties since 1951. “It is encouraging to see that Germany is keen to strengthen social, political and economic bilateral relations with Pakistan and has a great interest in regional stability for the sustainable economic development of the country.”

He noted that Pakistan’s exports to Germany stood at $1.60 billion in FY23 compared to $1.75 billion in FY22, representing a drop of 8.62% year-on-year basis. “Both countries need to reduce trade barriers, diversify the range of products, simplify customs procedures, promote SMEs, and foster business collaboration to give a much-needed trade boost for economic integration”, he added.

Underscoring the need to transfer German technology to Pakistan, he opined that this will boost the productivity and the competitiveness of Pakistani manufacturing units. There is also considerable potential for investment opportunities for Germany in varying sectors such as dairy, agriculture, textiles, IT, electrical machinery, plastics, mineral fuels, power generation, oil & gas and infrastructure projects etc.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023