KARACHI: Rosie Glazebrook, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council (CWEIC), invited Pakistani companies to be part of the upcoming Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) 2024 to be held in October this year for business-to-business and business-to-government linkages.

She added that commonwealth has a total population of 2.5 billion; 40 percent of the world’s workforce and half of the world’s emerging cities.

Atif Ikram Sheikh, President FPCCI, has emphasized that Pakistan should look at 56-country commonwealth’s global grouping with a combined GDP of $13 trillion as an economic alliance and capitalize on the advantages it offers for investment and economic cooperation in general and exports in particular. He observed that countries in commonwealth are adding the middle-class quicker than any other global grouping; and, the middle-class is the real driver of consumption and import demand.

It is pertinent to note that Ms Rosie Glazebrook, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council (CWEIC), visited FPCCI to discuss the business, investment and trade opportunities among the commonwealth nations and its relevance to Pakistan.

CWEIC has a mandate from the Commonwealth Heads of Government to promote trade and investments in the Commonwealth.

Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, SVP FPCCI, stressed that what Pakistan needs is trade & investment, technology transfer, industrial collaborations and strengthening of the industrial base to increase its exports and achieve import substitution – rather than aid or grants. He also expressed his strong desire that FPCCI wants to work with CWEIC to make Pakistan as one of its hubs to establish Pakistan as the next big trade and investment destinations for the commonwealth.

Imran Khalil Naseer, Chairman of the Pakistan–UK Business Council (PUKBC), maintained that CWEIC and Pakistan’s corporate sector should work together to enable Pakistani corporations to become corporate strategic partners of CWEIC.

There are over 150 corporate strategic partners of CWEIC at the moment and Pakistani companies have the potential to be added to that august ensemble of market players in diverse sectors and industries, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024