SIALKOT: The businessmen of Tokyo-Japan and Sialkot-Pakistan have stressed the need of promotion of “business-to-business” contacts between them for further strengthening the mutual trade ties.
They stated this during their mutual important meeting held at Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) with a trade delegation of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) today.
Led by Khawar Sapal (Chairman SCCI’s Departmental Committee on Trade Delegations, Exhibitions and Fairs), a twelve member SCCI trade delegation was there in Tokyo-Japan, under the direct supervision of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
According to the SCCI officials, the SCCI trade delegation also participated in the awareness-raising seminars arranged by the Embassy of Pakistan in Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), besides, holding the B-to-B meetings with potential businessmen of Japan being held there in Japan’s Tokyo and Osaka cities as well.
SCCI officials added that this visit to Japan would help a lot the Sialkot exporters to explore, capture and tap the untapped international trade markets of Japan.
Japan is an important trading partner of partner of Pakistan. However, the trade volume between Pakistan and Japan is below the potential. In 2015, the exports from Pakistan to Japan were US$ 176 million while imports from Japan to Pakistan were US$ 1.82 billion.
SCCI trade delegation’s leader Khawar Sapal, while talking to the leading Japanese businessmen at Tokyo and Osaka said that it was the high time for both Pakistan and Japan to focus on broadening the scope of mutual trade cooperation by extending it to the other areas of mutual trade, investment and infrastructure development including all other sectors of interest as well.
He suggested active engagements of the Japan and Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which could act as resources base for exchanging mutual trade information. He said that the mutual exchange of the trade delegations from both countries and holding of joint trade exhibitions would also help in promoting bilateral trade.
He said that there was a huge scope for establishing joint venture in different trade fields including sports goods, surgical instruments, sportswear, leather products and information technology between the businessmen of Tokyo, Osaka-Japan and Sialkot-Pakistan as well.
He termed SCCI trade delegation’s this visit to Japan as a step forward to bring the business communities of both Japan and Pakistan closer for better understanding and chalking out new avenues of mutual collaboration in various trade fields.
Khawar Sapal also urged the Japanese Government to relax duties on Pakistani products in order to provide the better and easy access to the international Japanese trade markets…#
