ISLAMABAD: Zaheerudin Babar Thaheem, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Cambodia, said that there are vast opportunities for Pakistan to promote trade with Cambodia, so the business community should intensify efforts to take advantage of these opportunities, while the embassy would extend them all possible cooperation in this regard. He said that Cambodia imports most of its goods from abroad to meet its needs, so Pakistan can export a number of products to Cambodia including textiles, garments, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. He expressed these views while addressing the business community on the occasion of his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Zaheeruddin Babar Thaheem said that the Cambodian private sector is keen to promote business relations with Pakistan, so ICCI should consider sending a delegation to Cambodia to explore all untapped areas of mutual cooperation between the two countries. He said that the construction sector in Cambodia is booming and Pakistan’s business community has good potential to export construction materials to Cambodia. He said that the tourism sector in Cambodia is also developing rapidly and tourists from the Middle East visit Cambodia due to which there is a lot of demand for halal meat, so Pakistan should promote the export of halal meat with Cambodia. He assured that the embassy will cooperate with the business community in promoting trade and exports with Cambodia.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said that the close cooperation of embassies with the private sector is important to promote Pakistan’s exports. He said that the Cambodian market is untapped for Pakistan, so the embassy should get information about the demand for Pakistani products in the market and share it with the chambers of commerce so that the business community can take advantage of these opportunities. He said that various products of Pakistan including marble & granite, engineering goods, surgical instruments and IT products can find a good market in Cambodia. He said that ICCI is planning to send its trade delegations to several countries and will consider forming a delegation for Cambodia to explore business opportunities for Pakistan in this market.
ICCI Senior Vice President Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh and Vice President Muhammad Faheem Khan said that trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Cambodia can be better promoted by promoting direct connectivity between the private sectors of both countries. They said that embassies have an important role in finding business and investment opportunities for Pakistan in foreign countries and hoped that the Embassy of Pakistan in Cambodia will try to play an active role in this regard.
ICCI Executive Members Humayun Kabir, Mohammad Saeed Khan, Mohammad Shabbir, Khalid Mehmood, Faseehullah Khan, Akhtar Hussain, Ali Akram Khan, Ms. Parveen Khan and Aslam Khokhar also spoke at the occasion and offered useful suggestions to improve trade relations between Pakistan and Cambodia.
