ISLAMABAD: The Indonesian Embassy Counselor Zaenal Abidin and third secretary Otto Rakhim Gani have attended a ceremony at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) to congratulate new office bearers.
They were of the view that Indonesia and Pakistan have great potential to improve bilateral cooperation in multiple fields and businessmen of both countries should interact frequently to promote two-way trade.
They said Pakistan and Indonesia have signed a Free Trade Agreement which should be operationalized to realize the full potential of trade relations between the two countries. They said Pakistani wheat, basmati rice and oranges were quite popular in Indonesia while many other Pakistani products including quality marble, fruits & vegetables, mangoes have also good potential to penetrate Indonesian market.
They said the new leadership of Indonesia was quite enthusiastic to improve trade and economic relations with Pakistan and has planned to organize specialized trade shows. They said Pakistani businessmen should participate in these trade shows to explore new business opportunities in Indonesia. They assured that Indonesian Embassy would like to work closely with ICCI to further strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and Pakistan.
Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, Senior Vice President and Muhammad Ashfaq Hussain Chatha, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said Indonesia was a huge consumers market and Pakistani businessmen wanted to promote business relations with Indonesia. They said Indonesia should grant at least 3-6 months multiple entry business visas to Pakistani businessmen to tap all untapped areas of mutual cooperation.
They said the present government was focused on improving energy and infrastructure development and Indonesian investors should come to Pakistan to explore opportunities for investment and joint ventures in Pakistan. They said both countries should work on specific areas under FTA to improve bilateral trade relations. They said Pakistan and Indonesia should explore possibilities of establishing direct air links, which will help in improving business relations.
They said Embassy of Indonesia should share trade related information and potential of Pakistani products in various segments of Indonesian market so that our businessmen could accelerate efforts to exploit the identified business opportunities. They assured that ICCI would extend full cooperation to the Embassy of Indonesia to facilitate the private sectors of both countries in promoting two-way trade.
