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ISLAMABAD, Sep 22 (APP):A business delegation of Kazakhstan led by its Ambassador , Yerzhan Kistafin, Friday visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and showed interest to explore business and investment opportunities in Pakistan.
The delegation was representing food & beverages, oil & gas, minerals, precious stones, fertilizers, chemicals, textiles, autoparts, wholesale and retail sectors, said a press release issued here.
Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador said that his country wanted to further strengthen trade relations with Pakistan as the two countries had good potential to do trade in many items.
He said that last year, a trade delegation of Kazakhstan was organized to Pakistan and hoped that the visit of another Kazakh delegation would contribute to promote business relations between the two countries.
He said that the President of Kazakhstan was scheduled to visit Pakistan in the near future that would further strengthen trade and economic relations between the two countries.
President, ICCI, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that both countries should set at least US$ 1 billion bilateral trade target as the current level of trade was not matching with their actual potential.
He said that Kazakhstan was a big landlocked country and Pakistani ports provided it the shortest route through Arabian Sea to access other markets.
Pakistan and Kazakhstan could cooperate in many fields including construction, agriculture, energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food items, engineering equipment, machinery, banking & finance, he added.
He said both countries should explore road and railway links that would boost trade and economic relations between them. He said that ICCI is planning a delegation to Kazakhstan to explore new avenues of business partnerships increasing bilateral trade ties between the two countries.
Yessentayev Arman, Head of Kazakh delegation said that Pakistan is a huge market for business and investment and they have come to explore business opportunities in many sectors in Pakistan including oil & gas, surgical instruments, juices, textiles, rice, sugar, fertilizers and others.
He said that both countries should open bank branches in each other’s market that would facilitate bilateral trade promotion. He said that there is a lack of information in private sectors of both countries about potential areas of business cooperation and hoped that their visit to Pakistan would bridge this gap.