Steps on to enhance Pak-Italy bilateral trade: envoy

FAISALABAD: Serious efforts are being made to enhance Pak-Italy bilateral trade from $1.7 billion to its full potential of $4 billion.

It was said by Italian Ambassador in Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese while addressing a meeting along with his spouse at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here on Monday. The ambassador said that he was posted about 9 months ago when corona was at its peak. He said that due to this reason, he had to wait for some time to fully understand the intricacies of the bilateral trade between the two countries.

He said that he was fully aware of the economic importance of Faisalabad and hence he was visiting this city. He said that possibly he would spend 3 to 3.5 years in Pakistan and during this period, he would try to bridge the gap between the business communities of the two countries. He underlined the importance of cultural linkages to promote trade and said that he would encourage exchange of students to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Appreciating the quality of Pakistani textile products, he said that Italy-Pakistan Textile Technology Center (IPTTC) had been established at the National Textile University Faisalabad (NTUF) to give a new dimension to the Pakistani textile products so that these could compete in the international markets. He said that Italy could also provide new and state-of-the-art machinery to Pakistani industrialists which would also help them in technology transfer.

He also assured to encourage joint ventures and said that the global economic environment was expected to improve next year and both countries would be in a position to perform much better. He said that Italy had already learnt to ensure business relations through zoom and virtual meetings.

Earlier, Chaudhry Talat Mehmood, senior vice president of the FCCI, welcomed the Italian ambassador and his wife and said that corona badly hit the import and export, however, now the situation was gradually improving and we were expecting a positive trend in our bilateral trade. He suggested that we must promote a catalogue exhibition through zoom and online meetings with stakeholders of the two countries instead of organising delegations for direct face to face meetings. Madam Tehmina Pasha, president of the Faisalabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FWCCI) also welcomed the Italian ambassador while Kashif Zia, Dr Najma Afzal and Yasir Nawab took part in the question-answer session. Later, Andreas Ferrarese along with his wife and SVP Talat Mehmood cut a cake to mark the birthday of Ch Rahmat Ali, the proposer of the name of the word Pakistan.