Pakistan and United Kingdom (UK) are enjoying congenial political relations besides amiable bilateral trade relations and it is the time to set a stage and provide an infrastructure to further cement these ties to open new vistas in trade and economic field, said Syed Mushtaq Ali Shah, senior vice President of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) here on Thursday.
He was talking to Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Coventry Chamber of Commerce's joint trade mission. Hamish Daniel, British Deputy High Commissioner, Rupi Nandra, Merton Murrell, Ajay Desai, Mohammad Nazir, Jason Mumtaz, Baqaullah Khan, Mian Attique and Syed Asad Mushdi were also present in the meeting.
Mushtaq Shah said private sector had to play an important role in the promotion of trade relations between UK and Pakistan. He invited the businessmen and investors from UK to come forward and invest in different sectors in Pakistan, especially in Rawalpindi which is a gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs).
He said UK was second largest investors in Pakistan after USA with more than 90 British companies operating in Pakistan. "Pakistan is second fast growing economy after China with vast investment opportunities for investors", he added. He assured his full assistance and co-operation to UK businessmen to further promote the trade volume and make their ventures a success.
Speaking on the occasion, Hamish Daniel British Deputy High Commissioner said that flow of business had shifted to the services sector from the manufacturing industry.
Unlike past, 70 percent of the total business concerns belong to professional services industry, while the creative business like information technology was the second growing sector in Birmingham, he added.