Pakistani Ambassador to Italy, Nadeem Riaz has said the Italian businessmen are keen to make investment in Pakistan's energy sector besides having joint ventures in other fields. He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI former Presidents Tariq Hameed, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Farooq Iftikhar, Mian Muzaffar Ali, Ijaz A Mumtaz, Provincial Secretary Transport Javaid Akbar Bhatti and executive committee members were prominent among those who attended the meeting.
The ambassador said there is a huge business potential in the two countries that should be tapped. He urged LCCI to constitute a sector specific business delegation for Italy to explore trade and investment opportunities. The information of delegation should be provided to the Pakistani mission in Italy at least two months before so that B2B meetings could be arranged with their Italian counterparts, he added.
He said that there is a vast scope for joint ventures in energy, pharmaceutical, agro infrastructure, automobile, textile and marble sectors. He also stressed the need for signing memoranda of understanding between the top organisations of the two countries.
LCCI former president Farooq Iftikhar said that Pakistan and Italy should hold sector-wise study to evolve a comprehensive joint strategy to enhance volume of trade between the two countries.
He said that Italy had been very supportive to Pakistan within the EU with special reference to trade-related issues. Pakistan attaches the highest importance to its relations with Italy, he added. Farooq Iftikhar said the climate for foreign investors in Pakistan is so conducive that they could now have 100 percent equity and there are no restrictions on remitting dividend, profits, and fee. Cost of doing business in Pakistan has also decreased owing to low interest rates and availability of cheap labour force, he said.
The Italian investors can invest in energy, agro-based industries, construction, mining, textiles and tourism sectors, where Pakistan could contribute and find complimentary areas in design and fashion. Other sectors included IT and telecommunication. He said that Italian businessmen could take advantage from the investment-friendly climate of Pakistan that offered best return on the foreign investment with economic policies providing for legal protection to foreign investment. Despite ups and down and other problems, not a single foreign investor has suffered in Pakistan. It is high time for the Italian investors to come to Pakistan and make investments as the country is fast becoming hub of economic activity in the region, he added.
LCCI former president Mian Muzaffar Ali said there is vast scope in the field of dairy products in which Italy enjoys expertise and hence both the countries can make huge profits. Pakistani businessmen should focus on Italy which is a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. The capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north and a less developed, welfare dependent agricultural north, he added. He said that Pakistani businessmen should work hand in hand with their Italian counterparts in the fields of tourism, machinery, iron & steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear and ceramics.
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