Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) high level delegation on Saturday left for Italy to promote trade links via mutual collaboration between Pakistani and Italian business community through business-to-business (B2B) meetings after attending 3-day international trade fair Heimtextil 2018 at Frankfurt (Germany).
According to a message received here, the delegation headed by its chief Mian Muhammad Kashif Ashfaq, will discuss the possibility of enhancing mutual trade followed by B2B meetings at Associazione Italiana d'Ingegneria Economica (AICE) in Milan and Cassa Padana Brescia. The frequency of visits between the two countries has witnessed a rise in recent years which is indicative of further deepening of ties between the two countries. He said that Pakistan and Italy had good relationship in a variety of fields and it was now time to further strengthen it.
He said the delegation would meet officials of government agencies, leading companies and foreign trade agencies to explore new avenues of mutual co-operation in trade and commerce. Mian Kashif said Italy was the fourth largest investor in Pakistan following China, UAE and Hong Kong with a total investment valuing at $100 million along with bilateral trade worth one billion Euros. "Our focus is on energy, infrastructure, automobiles, agro food, pharmaceuticals, marble, stones, furniture and textiles. We want to diversify our exports and find new partners for doing business"he added.
He said that Italian technology could help us upgrade our textile sector and utilize its untapped capacity. He said Italy had expertise in the manufacturing of state-of-the-art textile machinery, solar panels, food processing, renewable energy, infrastructure development and agriculture and various Italian companies were exploring opportunities to undertake joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs, he said.