ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was working to ink a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Pakistan that would bring many new opportunities for the entrepreneurs of both countries to increase bilateral trade and exports.
During his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Deputy Head of Mission of the UAE Embassy in Islamabad Rashid Abdul Rehman Al Ali said that he was very optimistic about the economic future of Pakistan as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and China was coming to the country.
He appreciated the holding of the first-ever Pakistan Minerals Summit and termed it a positive development for Pakistan.
The envoy said that UAE wanted to further increase investment in Pakistan with a focus on textiles, marble and tiles, gemstone, agriculture, mining, and petroleum.
He stressed further consolidating government-to-government and business-to-business ties between the two nations to explore new avenues of business matchmaking.
The envoy said that Pakistan was the most favorable nation for tourism and that an improved tourism infrastructure would attract more tourists.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, former President of ICCI and Secretary General UBG, said that Pakistan and UAE enjoyed cordial ties based on shared foundations of history, culture, and religion.
He said that UAE has always supported Pakistan in difficult times, which showed its sincerity.
Pakistan-UAE Trade
Bakhtawari said that UAE was one of the leading trading partners of Pakistan with a bilateral trade of more than $10 billion. There was great potential to further increase trade volume by regular exchange of business delegations.
He said that UAE’s investors should invest in the tourism sector of Pakistan to further upgrade its infrastructure.
He added that ICCI would like to hold a Pak-UAE business forum in the ICCI auditorium in collaboration with the Embassy of UAE.
