German companies want joint ventures and investment in Pakistan

Islamabad: /DNA/ – A delegation of German companies led by Muhammad Usman, Country Representative for Pakistan of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and showed interest for joint ventures and investment in Pakistan in areas of their respective fields. The delegation was representing various sectors including telecommunication, automobile, construction, logistics, energy & financial services.  

Addressing the German delegation, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan and Germany have great potential to increase bilateral trade in many areas as the current level of two-way trade of around US$ 4 billion is not matching with the actual potential of both countries. He said that both countries are doing trade in limited items as Pakistan’s main exports to Germany include textiles, leather goods, sports goods, footwear and medical instruments, and its main imports from Germany include machinery, chemical and electrical goods, motor vehicles and iron goods. He stressed that both countries should strengthen business linkages between their private sectors to explore all untapped areas of mutual cooperation.

Ahsan Bakhtawari said that over 40 German companies are doing successful business in many sectors of Pakistan’s economy including telecommunication, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobile, automotive, wholesale and stressed that more German companies should explore JVs and investment in Pakistan, which is a huge market of over 240 million consumers. He assured that ICCI would connect German investors with right partners in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, the representatives of German companies said that Germany wants to diversify foreign trade and the purpose of their visit to Pakistan is to develop networking with Pakistani counterparts and explore potential areas of joint ventures and investment. They said that the world’s leading agriculture machinery trade fair AgriTechna will be held in Hanover, Germany from November 12-18, 2023 and invited ICCI delegation to participate in it to discover new innovations, technologies and machineries in the agriculture sector.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that German investors from automobile and other sectors should transfer technology and set up business partnerships in Pakistan to export their products to Central Asia and other markets.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan has huge potential for foreign investment in the construction sector and German companies should take advantage of these opportunities.  

Zafar Bakhtawari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan stressed for direct air links between Pakistan and Germany that would help in promoting trade relations between the two countries.