Italian Ambassador to Pakistan, Dr Vincenzo Prati, has said that his country is willing to extend its economic co-operation in different sectors with Pakistan, which would help enhance boost up the exports of Pakistani products. Exchanging views with the delegations from different disciplines met him here at Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) on Sunday.
The Italian ambassador said that Italy is a friend in need of Pakistan and it would play its effective role for the economic upgradation, progress and development of the country.
He said, 'We want to organise an international mango festival and an exporters' conference in collaboration with MCCI in July in Multan to introduce the mangoes produced in Multan in European market.'
Meanwhile, he said that a Mango festival would be organised simultaneously in Rome (Italy) and Multan in 2010, while an exhibition would be organised in Islamabad to promote blue pottery and ancient culture of Multan, and for this purpose a focal person would be appointed, who would be responsible to provide basic information about the Pakistani products to foreigners, tourists, and also book their orders for the supply of products.
The delegations of handicraftsmen, Mango growers, Textile millers, agro-based industry, Dates growers, Livestock, light engineering, blue pottery, camel skin crafts were present on the occasion.
President of MCCI, Anis Ahmed Sheikh, said that Multan preserves its immense heritage, rich culture and age-long traditions of learning, wisdom, trade, commerce.
In addition, he said that Multan is a gateway to Central Asian states since centuries, and 80 per cent of total cotton yield of the country produces here in this important city of Pakistan.
Pakistan has tremendous opportunities for foreign investments as it provides all necessary ingredients desired by prospective investors, especially, in agricultural sector, he maintained.
Moreover, he said that agricultural sector is a back bone of Pakistan's economy that accounts for 22 per cent of GDP and directly supports three quarters of the country's population, and half of the labour force is associated with the this sector, adding that it contributes a large share of foreign exchange earnings.
The main agricultural products are cotton, wheat, rice, sugar cane, fruit and vegetables in addition to Milk, Beef, Mutton and eggs. He said that Pakistan is also a net importer of agricultural commodities and annually imports about $2 billion (edible oil, cotton, goods, dry milk).
Syed Asim Shah, Suhail Khan Tareen, Khawaja Muhammad ilyas, Khawaja Mehr Ali, of Textiles, Syed Shamshad Jafferi, Fayyaz Ahmed, Riaz Ahmed, of Engineering, Haji Ata-ur-Rehman, Hasnain Nawaz, Waqas Awan of Pesticides, Ahsan Rashid of palm-oil, Farid Khan Khakwani, Muzaffar Khan Khakwani of Mango growers, Malik Saeed Ahmed, Dr Akhtar of Palmdates, Nawab Nadeem-uddin of Livestock, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Bhutta, Muhammad Ibrahim of Kissan Board and Abdul Rehman of Handicrafts.
Shahid Mehmood Khan MPA, Khurram Shehzad Hameed, Khurram Javed were also present.