ISLAMABAD: A delegation of MUSIAD visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) led by Vice Chairman for Fair, Forum and Organization Commission Omur Yildiz and discussed possibilities for further enhancing business collaborations between the private sectors of Turkey and Pakistan. MUSIAD is an independent association of Turkish industrialists and businessmen that represents 46000 enterprises with 11,000 members in Turkey and abroad.
Omur Yildiz said MUSIAD was organizing its 16th Expo at Istanbul, Turkey from 9-12 November 2016 and invited Pakistani businessmen to participate in this important event to enhance their business prospects. He said over 400 national and more than 250 international companies will participate in the Expo while over 100,000 visitors were anticipated to attend the event. He said the Expo would offer good platform to Pakistani business community for trade cooperation and global partnerships with businessmen and investors of Turkey and other countries.
In his welcome address, Khalid Iqbal Malik, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Pakistan and Turkey enjoyed very cordial relations since long and stressed that these good relations should be transformed into strong business partnerships for the mutual benefit of both countries. He said the potential for economic cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey has not been fully exploited as yet because the bilateral trade of less than US$ 1 billion was far less than their real potential. He emphasized that both countries should focus on frequent exchange of trade delegations and organize single country exhibitions to improve two-way trade.
He said CPEC offered huge investment opportunities and Turkish investors should focus on energy, infrastructure development, construction, information technology, food processing, agro-based products, dairy development, furniture & hotel industry, tourism and resorts development sectors in Pakistan for joint ventures and investment. He assured that ICCI delegation will try to participate in the MUSIAD Expo 16 to explore business opportunities.
Khalid Malik Senior Vice President and Tahir Ayub Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry also spoke at the occasion and urged that Pakistan and Turkey should focus on signing a Free Trade Agreement to facilitate trade promotion. They said both countries should establish direct road and railways links that would greatly help in further improving bilateral trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Turkey.
