Pakistan and Malaysia to enhance bilateral cooperation

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has planned to organise a Business Opportunities Conference (BoC) and Awards Ceremony in in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the last week of June 2019 with the aim to promote business linkages between the private sectors of Pakistan and Malaysia.

For this purpose, a delegation of ICCI led by its President Ahmed Hassan Moughal visited Pakistan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and held a meeting with Mian Atif Sharif, Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Malaysia. Rafat Farid Senior Vice President and Sheikh Amir Waheed, former President ICCI were in the delegation.

Speaking at the occasion, Ahmed Hassan Moughal, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan and Malaysia have great potential to enhance bilateral cooperation in many fields for which bringing private sectors of both countries closer was important.

He said ICCI has planned to organise BoC and awards ceremony on June 25 and 26, 2019 in Kuala Lumpur that would provide good platform to the private sectors of both countries to hold B2B meetings and explore areas of business collaboration.

He said Pakistan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur should support ICCI in organising BoC in Malaysia successfully. He said last year, ICCI had successfully organised a BoC in Turkey in which around 500 representatives of private sector from both sides had participated and hoped that the next BoC in Malaysia would be more successful.

Addressing the delegation, Mian Atif Sharif, Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur lauded the efforts of ICCI for organising BoC in Malaysia. He said such events were important to promote connectivity and business linkages between private sectors and assured to cooperate with ICCI in making BoC in Malaysia meaningful and productive.

Rafat Farid Senior Vice President ICCI and Sheikh Amir Waheed former President ICCI also spoke at the occasion and shared useful ideas for further improving bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Malaysia.

Meanwhile the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), announced the date of the Investment Conference themed’Pakistan Rising’, which will be held on June 21, 2019 in London.

This Conference, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, aims to bring together salient current and potential investors from around the world to showcase investment opportunities in Pakistan.

Sharing his views on the occasion, Minister of Finance, Asad Umar commented “This step by the OICCI will serve as a gamechanger to showcase the real opportunity for investment in Pakistan at an international stage. This initiative will help highlight the many existing success stories of foreign investment in Pakistan and shape the narrative for future investors.”

The OICCI President, Shazia Syed further highlighted, “The Pakistan Investment Conference will accelerate the pace of foreign investment in Pakistan. Through this platform, we intend to facilitate first hand interaction between potential investors and the Prime Minister. The dialogue will allow future investors to learn about the PM’s vision to enhance ease of doing business and enable a thriving business environment in the country. Our purpose is to break the stereotypes that shadow Pakistan’s perception as a business-friendly destination.”

The Chairman, Board of Investment Haroon Sharif, recognised the OICCI as a key partner in the promotion of foreign direct investment. He added, “Through this platform, BOI will collaborate with the OICCI to facilitate the entry of international investors into Pakistan whilst contributing towards the national economy.”

While speaking about the extensive differentiators that separate Pakistan from other countries as an increasingly attractive market, the OICCI Secretary General, M Abdul Aleem commented, “Pakistan with a large middle class, a young population of over 100 million, with a rapidly growing urban population is already one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. The Investment Conference will further raise awareness about the investor friendly economic policies of the country and display a truly positive outlook based on the high returns on investment to many existing investors”.

The event will enable the PM and senior Government officials to interact with leading foreign investors, key opinion leaders, leading economists, the UK desk of PK media and International media to project a positive national narrative on the international stage. The intent of the Conference is to highlight the key policy measures in the pipeline to facilitate investment and make Pakistan a hub of foreign direct investment.  Established in 1860, the OICCI, is the largest Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan based on economic contribution in the form of taxes and investment by its members.

News Network International