Faisal Khawer Butt Sialkot
Dr. Rudiger Lotz, the Consul General at German Consulate Karachi, on Monday has said that Germany and Pakistan had been enjoying warm and friendly ties for the last so many decades in various departments including trade and commerce.
While addressing the local businessmen and industrialists at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) as head of a visiting German delegation, Dr. Rudiger Lotz said that there was ample room for both the countries to further expand the spheres of their ties from where they were standing right now.
He termed Sialkot as the hub of SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) in the country which could play a leading role in promoting bilateral trade. He said that in order to achieve certain targets and goals of economic growth and progress the active involvement and participation of women was essential along with the timely steps to deal with the environmental issues.
He added that after ousting about half of the entire population from the economic activity no goals regarding sustainable economic growth could be achieved. He said that Pakistan was facing many economic challenges and there were hopes that the new government would positively initiate reforms to deal with them.
Mr. Oliver Oehms, the CEO German Emirati Joint Council for Industry & Commerce, in his speech said that it was important for Germany to explore business opportunities in the SMEs sector of Sialkot because it was solidly based on the determination of the vibrant industrialists and the hard work of skilled workers.
Ms. Janine Rohwer, the First Secretary German Embassy Islamabad, said that during the recent years the number of applicants seeking business visas of Germany had increased considerably and despite limited staff and time all measures were being taken to redress issues of all. She said that it was quite necessary to enhance the number of participants in the trade fares because it could greatly help boost the activities to increase bilateral trade.
Earlier, the president SCCI Malik Abdul Ghafoor thanked Germany for playing its part in the grant of GSP plus status from European Union (EU) to Pakistan. He opined GSP plus had strengthened the export sector of Pakistan.
He said that there was huge potential for joint ventures for the business communities of both countries.
He also highlighted the wide role of SCCI not only in assisting the local businesses community, who annually earned over US$ 2.5 billion for national exchequer, but also promoting the social sector of the city. SCCI vice president Amer Majeed Sheikh and others were also present.
