On a relatively cold January evening in 2001 and at the residence of the then Consul General of Japan in Karachi, Koizumi Dekiba the official launching of the forum took place. The chief guest was Abdul Razzak Dawood, Federal Minister of Commerce, Industries, and Production, Shahida Jamil, Federal Minister of Law and Justice and with the Governor of Sind, Mohammed Mian Soomro, attending. Japan’s Ambassador in Islamabad, Sadaaki Numata had specially flown in from Islamabad to attend who was influential in the formation of PJBF and was invited as the Guest of Honour. Others, besides many attending the event were Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Yusuf Shirazi, Hamid Jaffer, Aziz Memon, Majyd Aziz, Asad Umar, Humayun Murad, Firoz Khan, Kunwar Idrees, Ardeshir Cowasjee, Kalim Farooqui, Bashir Ali Mohammed, Razzak Bengali and many more representing a cross section of trade and industry and most of who joined PJBF as members later. Also attending were many representatives of Japanese companies in Pakistan led by Akira Watari, Chairman of Nichimen Corporation who had specially flown in from Japan to attend.
Founding members initiating and signatories on the application to the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for registering the forum were Abdul Kader Jaffer, Majyd Aziz, Yunus Dawood, Abdul Aziz Memon, Farrukh Hussain Sheikh, Asif Ali Rashid with two Japanese resident in Karachi, Yoshiki Yamashiro representing Itochu Corporation and Masaharu Domichi representing Mitsubishi Corporation, both conglomerates of Japan. Accordingly, the first to head the forum was Abdul Aziz Memon followed by Farrukh Hussain Sheikh and later Abdul Kader Jaffer after returning to Pakistan completing his tenure in the United Kingdom as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Later, Sohail P. Ahmed, Kalim Farooqui and now Murtaza Mandviwalla is serving as the Chairman of PJBF. In accordance with the Memorandum of Association, the Board of Directors consists of 20 directors, 10 each of Pakistanis and Japanese businessmen resident in Pakistan.
Pakistan-Japan Business Forum (PJBF) is a Bi-Lateral forum established with a view to promote trade and investments between the two friendly countries. Amongst the various activities of the forum is holding of events and inviting the decision makers in the government connected to business matters which include the Ministers, Secretaries as well as CEO’s of related organizations such as Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Board of Investment (BOI), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the like. Members interact with them as it provides them with a platform to air their views and seek help on matters of interest to their businesses thereby directly bringing it to the knowledge of the concerned. Participation in exhibitions such as Expo Pakistan under Japanese umbrella, arranging trainings both in Pakistan and in Japan on specialized subjects, managing and linking trade delegations visiting Japan or Pakistan to interact with their potential counterparts as well as liaising with Embassies in both countries to ensure the maximum utilization of their presence for the business community, are amongst the many initiatives that are undertaken by the Forum. The Board of Director of PJBF meet monthly to review progress. PJBF had also taken the lead to call upon heads of all Bi Lateral Business Forums operating in Pakistan to jointly come up with a working paper highlighting issues common to all which was then taken up with the government for corrective measures.
Additionally, PJBF has to it, credit taking SME delegations regularly to Japan for networking with businesses in Japan and which has resulted in arrangement of distributorship, technical cooperation and even joint ventures established. Unique with PJBF as a bilateral business forum is the Annual Joint Dialogue which alternatively takes place in Pakistan and in Japan the last of which took place in Islamabad. PJBF is officially represented in the dialogue between the two countries when businessmen from both countries are provided the opportunity to discuss and deliberate upon issues considered impediments in the way of trade and investments. Embassy of Pakistan in Tokyo and the Embassy of Japan in Islamabad are the helping arms of PJBF as are also Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the two Japanese government agencies having offices in Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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