Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese says his country wanted to further strengthen relations with Pakistan in all fields;   Zafar Bakhtawri stresses the need to establish the direct air link between Pakistan Italy

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Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese has  said that there are vast opportunities for mutual trade and investment between Pakistan and Italy from which businessmen and traders of both the countries can reap the benefits. Pakistani businessmen and traders move forward and work to promote mutual trade and economic ties between Pakistanis in Italy, he said. Economic, trade and cultural relations between Italy and Pakistan are at an all-time high, he said this while hosting a dinner in honour of senior business leaders and Presidents of different trade chambers of the country at his residence.

While renowned business leaders including former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, Zafar Bakhtawri , Chairman Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Capital Office Qurban Ali, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Muhammad Nasir Mirza, President Guzranwala Chamber of

Commerce and Industry , Umer Ashraf Mughal, President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry , Sherbaz IIyas Bilour , Former Senior Vice President ICCI Shakeel Muneer , MD  Islamabad Stock Exchange  Mian Ayaz Afzal and Abdullah Shad

Abbasi attended the dinner.

The Ambassador informed that Italy hosts the largest Pakistani Diaspora in the European Union (EU) countries.  In FY 2020-21, workers’ remittances from Italy reached $601 million which is an all-time high figure, he said. It has made Italy, Pakistan`s 7th largest destination for workers remittance globally and No.1 from the EU. He said that there was huge trade potential in different sectors of the economy which needed to be explored and in this regard both sides were engaged in the dialogue process through the Pak-Italy Joint Economic Commission was the forum for bilateral economic engagements.

The Ambassador said that currently Italy was providing technical assistance in Agriculture and textiles up gradation through modern machinery, value addition in agriculture, leather and marble sectors. He said Pakistan was working to expand it to Agricultural items including dairy and livestock, olives and olive products, plastics, processed food and the construction sector in the Italian market.

 Andreas Ferrarese was of the view that Italy wanted to

start a new era of economic and trade cooperation with Pakistan through transfer of technology and for upgradation of Pakistan’s textile industry. He said green economy, transfer of technology for the industrial sector including textiles and agro industry, construction sector, education and health are major areas of focus to extend the bilateral cooperation. The ambassador said through the green economy, Italy wanted to cooperate with Pakistan for environment protection, circular economy, resource saving and management, ecosystem protection and recovery, water conservation and natural disaster prevention. The Ambassador said that Italy has established the Italy-Pakistan Textile Technology Center (IPTTC) in Faisalabad at the National Textile University (NTU) to upgrade the local textile sector.  As Pakistan’s imports from Italy increased in these sectors included ships, boats, and other floating structures, machinery, pharmaceutical products, aircraft, spacecraft, electrical, electronic equipment, organic chemicals, iron and steel, miscellaneous chemical products, optical, photo, technical and medical apparatus.

 Replying to a question, he said currently, Italy was providing technical assistance to Pakistan in textiles, leather and marble sectors. He informed that dairy and livestock, olive and olive products, plastics,

processed food and the construction sector were the areas where Italy could extend its cooperation with The new economic mission has been deployed in Pakistan to further promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation in different potential areas, he said. Initially the new economic mission has been established in major cities of Pakistan including Karachi and Islamabad and later it would be expanded to other potential trade hubs to increase the economic and trade integration between Pakistan and Italy, he said.

He underlined the importance of promoting cultural connectivity to promote bilateral trade.  He said that he would also encourage exchange of students to further strengthen bilateral relations.

The top diplomat said that Italy was committed to extend the cooperation of a diverse potential sector to enhance the bilateral economic and cooperation between Pakistan and Italy.

While senior business leader and Secretary General United Business Group( UBG) , Zafar Bakhtawri stressed the need to establish the direct  air  link between Pakistan Italy.

He also proposed promotion of Italian and start Italian language classes in selected schools in the major cities of Pakistan.