Trade, tourism, health and technical education: Sweden wants to enhance ties with Pakistan: Westerberg

Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, Per Westerberg, said Sweden is keen to enhance relations with Pakistan in the fields of trade, tourism, health and technical education. Per Westerberg was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. LCCI President Sohail Lashari threw light on bilateral relations between the two countries while Swedish Ambassador in Pakistan Tomas Rosander also spoke on the occasion.
The Swedish Speaker, who was heading a large high-powered trade and Parliamentary delegation, said their first ever visit to Pakistan is enough to make the point that Sweden attaches great importance to this country.
Per Westerberg said Sweden considers Pakistan its closest friend and economic partner. He said Swedish business community is aware of the huge economic potential that exists in Pakistan and has expressed its keenness for utilising that untapped potential. He said his country is ready to extend co-operation in the field of Hydro electricity as Sweden is producing more than 60 percent its electricity through hydro means.
He said Sweden believes that Pakistan's economy is heading in right direction under the present democratic set-up but it would have to go further to attract more foreign investment. The Speaker highlighted the need of regular parliamentary and trade exchanges between Pakistan and Sweden in order to enhance bilateral relations; therefore, special attention should be given to this particular area.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Sohail Lashari thanked the Swedish government for supporting Pakistan on GSP Plus status. This has enhanced exports of Pakistan to the European Union and will definitely uplift the economy of Pakistan through a number of ways including creation of new job opportunities, he said.
He said that Pak-Swedish relations have immense potential to grow and the enhancement of trade, business, education exchange programs, medical research and tourism can further augment our already friendly ties. There should be exchange of students on regular basis as well as that of medical scholars. We request the Swedish government to allocate a certain quota of scholarships for the Pakistani students in order to uplift the education standard in our country.
The potential areas of co-operation and investment for Sweden in Pakistan are Health Care and Life Sciences, Energy and Environmental Technology, Information and Communication Technologies, Business Infrastructure and Services and Manufacturing and Materials Technology.
He said Sweden and Pakistan should have tourism packages for each other as both countries have places which are heaven for tourists. Our northern areas have spots which are famous world-wide for their beautiful locations. Mountaineering, paragliding and polo are sports which are widely played in those areas. The culture and civilisation is worth witnessing. In fact, we have here in Pakistan the world's oldest civilisation. Harappa and Moenjodaro are places which have earned world fame for being the oldest civilisations in the world and are a striking tourist attraction.