KARACHI: Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Takashi Kurai has advised the Pakistani Business Community to become cost and quality competitive along with coming up with diversity of products to capture significant share of Japanese market.
Japanese like Pakistani goods including textile especially apparel and agriculture products. There was great demand for Pakistani mango, said the Ambassador during a media chat after 10th annual general meeting of Pakistan Japan Business Forum, held here on Wednesday. Japanese Consul General to Karachi Tishikazu Isomura, President of PJBF, Sohail P. Ahmed were also present.
The Ambassador assured that Japanese missions in Pakistan would be extending maximum possible support and facilitation for promoting Pakistan’s exports to Japan. However, he added, Pakistani manufacturers, producers and exporters would have to adopt modern techniques of value-addition including better packaging to strengthen their position in the international market. Pakistan should focus on indigenization.
He said during fiscal year 2016-17, Japan exported 80 tons of Pakistani mango and the volume might increase this year. He said the bilateral trade last year figured dollars two billion, which was very low against the potential. It was in favour of his country. To a question about the possibility of signing of free trade agreement between the two countries, he said Pakistani business community in general might not support it because it was likely to create more trade imbalance between the two countries.
He said Japan’s investment in Pakistan was about 32 billion dollars. The major portion was in auto sector, followed by hydro-power generation. More Japanese investors would come in and invest in different potential sectors if they were provided more incentives and facilitation by Pakistan government and the private sector, he said.
