An Italian delegation comprising representatives of 80 companies from the textile, leather, footwear, infrastructure, Information Technology, renewable energy, agriculture, automotive sectors is visiting Pakistan on December 7. Deputy Trade Commissioner of Italy, A R Daudpota revealed this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.
He said the Italian State Minister would lead the delegation while six Italian business associations would also be part of the delegation. The Italian Deputy Trade Commissioner said the Italian delegation was visiting Pakistan to explore opportunities for trade & investment.
Italy's main industries are tourism, machinery, iron & steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear and ceramics. Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75 percent of energy requirements are imported. He said that joint ventures between the private sectors of the two countries could help enhance mutual trade volume.
LCCI President Abdul Basit said Italy was an important trading partner of Pakistan in Europe which came at fifth and third places respectively among the top exporting and importing destinations for Pakistan in European Union. He said the balance of trade favoured Pakistan and it was encouraging to see that volume of bilateral trade was being maintained over one billion dollar. Pakistani businessmen wish to maintain this favourable trend and also enhance the volume of two way trade with the help and cooperation of individuals.
"The volume of bilateral trade was $1.2 billion in 2014 which slightly decreased to $1.1 billion in 2015. The said fall in trade volume was due to slight dip in imports and exports during the same period. The exports of Pakistan decreased from $767 million to $618 million and imports contracted from $470 million to $444 million," he said, adding those figures did not reflect the actual potential of trade between Pakistan and Italy.
He said "both the countries have big market size, so we will suggest that market surveys should be conducted to explore the potential areas of trade." He said it was really good to see that Italian investors and businessmen were taking interest in fashion and marble sectors of Pakistan in particular. "If Italy could help Pakistan get the latest technology required in these sectors then we can create win-win situation for both the countries," he added. He said the Lahore Chamber liked to develop a close liaison with the Italian Trade Commission office in Pakistan with a view to exchange important information related to trade queries.
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