ISLAMABAD, FEB 23 /DNA/ – A 10-member business delegation of Kazakhstan led by Daniyar Kalimbetov visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and held B2B meetings with ICCI members to explore business collaborations in areas of mutual interest. The delegation was representing various sectors including construction material, pharmaceuticals, education, healthcare services & products, agriculture and others.

Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan also accompanied the delegation. The delegation also visited the local industrial units to see the potential of Pakistani products for import.

Speaking at the occasion, Daniyar Kalimbetov, Head of delegation said that it was the very first visit of a business delegation from Kazakhstan to Pakistan and they were very optimistic to explore business partnerships with Pakistani counterparts that would be beneficial for both countries. He thanked ICCI for extending warm welcome and great hospitality to the delegation.

Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan were enjoying cordial relations, but enough attention was not paid to promote business and economic relations. He said that Kazakh business delegation has come to establish direct links with Pakistani counterparts to strengthen trade relations.

He said that a single country exhibition of Pakistan would be organized in May this year in Almaty in which Sialkot & Sargodha Chambers of Commerce would participate. He invited the ICCI delegation to attend the said exhibition to further enhance business relations between the two countries. He said that both countries have good potential to increase bilateral trade to at least USD 1 billion in near future.

He said that the President of Kazakhstan would also visit Pakistan in September this year and a business delegation was also likely to accompany him that would further deepen the business linkages between the two countries.

Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the current volume of bilateral trade of less than USD 100 million between Pakistan and Kazakhstan was quite low given the economic potential of both countries and stressed that they should focus on developing strong business linkages between their private sectors to explore all untapped areas of mutual cooperation. He said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan have good potential to cooperate in construction, agriculture, energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food items, engineering equipment, machinery, banking & finance and many other sectors for which promoting direct connectivity between the entrepreneurs of both countries was very important. He said that the visit of Kazakhstan’s trade delegation was a right step in that direction and stressed that both countries should encourage frequent exchange of business delegations to improve trade and economic ties.

Khalid Iqbal Malik, Chairman Founder Group said that CPEC was a game changer project for Pakistan and invited the investors of Kazakhstan to explore JVs and investment in this mega project. He said that both countries should make serious efforts to take bilateral trade to USD 2 billion per annum.

Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh Senior Vice President ICCI, Tariq Sadiq, Mian Shaukat Masud, Zafar Bakhtawari, Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Nasir Qureshi and others also spoke at the occasion and stressed for promoting bilateral cooperation in pharmaceutical, agriculture, constructions, textiles, IT and other fields between the two countries.=DNA

===========