ISLAMABAD: Brazil offers huge business opportunities and Pakistani businessmen should step up efforts to explore this big market for promoting trade and exports with South American region, observed Burhanul Islam, Ambassador-designate of Pakistan to Brazil and accredited to Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela and Guyana during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said Brazil was exporting poultry products worth billions of dollars to China, Middle East and India as its trade with China is $83 billion and with India $18 billion.
He said that Brazil has good potential to make Pakistan a hub of poultry products to export them to China, South Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and other regions at affordable cost and stressed that Pakistani entrepreneurs to establish joint ventures with Brazilian counterparts in poultry sector. He said Brazil was also a big market for Pakistani sports goods, especially footballs, surgical items and leather products and said that Pakistani businessmen should try to open a Display Centre in Brazilian market to get better penetration in South America.
Burhannul Islam said Pakistani food was very popular in Brazil and urged that Pakistani businessmen should open restaurants that have great potential for success in Brazilian market. He said businessmen should focus on improving the branding of their products to beat the competition in South American market. He said ICCI should take a delegation to Brazil to explore business opportunities for Pakistan products and assured that his Embassy would extend all possible assistance to make its visit successful.
In his welcome address, Atif Ikram Sheikh, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that South America was still a virgin market for Pakistan and there was a need to strengthen cooperation with Brazil to gain better access to this huge untapped market. He said ICCI would like to sign MoU with Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote connectivity between private sectors of both countries and asked the Ambassador-designate to Brazil to play his role for materialization of this idea.
He said Brazil was quite strong in agriculture sector and Brazilian agro sector investors should be persuaded for technology transfer and investment in Pakistan. He said ICCI would consider taking a trade delegation to Brazil to identify potential areas for Pakistani exports. Sheikh Abdul Waheed, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry also highlighted other areas of cooperation with Brazil and stressed that Pakistan and Brazil should encourage frequent exchange of trade delegations to find out new avenues of mutual collaboration for improving bilateral trade up to the real potential of both countries.
