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Karachi, January 08, 2015 (PPI-OT): Pakistan’s Ambassador for Libya, Lt. Gen (retd) Javed Zia, while underscoring the need to benefit from the immense business and trade opportunities available in Libya, asked the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to devise a mechanism for enhancing trade with Libya which has the potential to become one of the most powerful states of the world.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday, Javed Zia said that Libya was an important country which offers excellent trade opportunities as, despite serious crises due to civil war, it still holds strong foreign reserves of $120 billion along with a stable Libyan Dinar and Libya was also the 9th largest oil producer of the world.
Libya’s ideal geo-strategic position and a small population of 6.5 million only provide a lucrative opportunity to Pakistani businessmen and industrialists, who would surely benefit by immediately penetrating their products and services into the Libyan market, Javed Zia added, who is also Pakistan’s Ambassador for Malta, Burkina Faso and Togo.
President KCCI, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Senior Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, Vice President KCCI, Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Chairman Special Committee for My Karachi Exhibition, Muhammad Idrees, Former President KCCI, Majyd Aziz and KCCI Managing Committee members were present at the meeting.
Javed Zia was fairly confident that Libya would one day become one of the most powerful states of the world and it was the right time for Pakistani businessmen to explore trade opportunities in this country in an efficient manner otherwise other developed countries, particularly Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, would take over this important market and Pakistan will be left behind.
The Ambassador further informed that Pakistani Embassy in Libya plans to establish a display center within the Embassy where Pakistani high-quality products will be displayed free of cost along with contact details of producers/ manufacturers with a view to promote Pakistani products and strengthen trade between the two countries.
Identifying various areas of enhancing trade, Javed Zia mentioned that Pakistani exporters need to explore export opportunities in various sectors including construction, surgical and sports goods, textile, rice, mango pulp, leather, marble, wheat, cement, furniture, jewellery etc. while Pakistan’s skilled labour force can also be sent to Libya.
He said that Pakistani Embassy in Libya pursues an open-door policy and they always encourage Pakistanis to visit and look for business and investment opportunities in Libya. He also underscored the need to build strong relations based on trust between the business communities of the two countries which would surely go in favour of both the economies and create an enabling environment for all.
Recalling the crisis in Libya due to civil war, he said that Pakistani embassy in Libya made immense efforts to repatriate Pakistan nationals in Libya and a total 7040 Pakistanis stranded in Libya were successfully brought back to their homeland since the government launched an evacuation operation on August 13, 2014 which concluded on November 4, 2014.
Terming the evacuation as one of the biggest and successful operations, the envoy said it was only made possible due to the timely response by the government and a total of Rs400 million were spent by the Pakistani government on the entire evacuation process.
He said that Pakistan’s embassy in Libya has also started the registration process of Pakistani expats in Libya and around 4,000 Pakistanis have been registered so far. He informed that three Pakistanis schools have also been established in Libya where high quality education was being imparted to students.
Earlier while welcoming the Ambassador, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra said that Libya, being an emerging economy, offers immense opportunities to Pakistani business community to exports various products and services.
He said that relations between Pakistan and Libya remain friendly and bonded throughout history as they share similar religious identities, cultural links, particularly their Islamic heritage. President KCCI also underscored the need to make efforts to enhance the existing low trade volume and extended full support to the Ambassador in this regard.
Speaking on the occasion, Senior Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi stressed the need to create close liaison between the business communities of the two countries. “We must work towards effectively promoting and marketing Pakistani products, besides facilitating the Pakistani businessmen who wish to enhance exports to Libya”, he added.
For more information, contact:
Aamir Hassan
Director Press/Electronic Media and Public Relations
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
Aiwan-e-Tijarat Road, Off Shahrah-e-Liaquat,
Karachi-74000
Phone: +92-21-99218001-09
Fax: +92-21-99218040
Email: info@kcci.com.pk, secretary@kcci.com.pk
Website: www.kcci.com.pk