Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday said the current bilateral trade was not commensurate with the huge potential with Iraq which needed to be explored to expand bilateral trade volume.
Addressing the Pakistan-Iraq Business Council in Baghdad, he said Pakistan’s Single Country Exhibition held in March 2022 in Baghdad saw deals worth of US$ 20 million which showed the great business potential, between the countries.
He expressed the confident that this Pakistan-Iraq Business Forum would ensure a similar opportunity for government to government (G2G) linkages and business networking amongst potential investors and trade partners from both sides.
Bilawal stressed for enhancing collaboration and mutual investment in five prioritized fields including IT, food security, energy, construction and medicine.
During the event, an MoU was also signed between Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and their Iraqi counterpart.
The foreign minister said the establishment of Pakistan-Iraq Business Council comprising chambers of commerce and key business representative entities from both the countries would help expanding the bilateral economic ties.
“Through this entity, we can follow-up on programs, policy suggestions, roadmap, and special initiatives for enhancing trade and investment between the two countries,” he said.
The foreign minister also assured the government’s full cooperation to the work of this proposed Business Council.
He said economic diplomacy was at the heart of the Pakistan’s foreign policy.
“We want to build mutually beneficial economic ties. Let our partnership be led by the burgeoning and vibrant business community from both sides, paving the way for prosperity and progress of both the countries.”
Bilawal said during his interaction with President, Prime Minister and his Iraqi counterpart, he discussed expanding cooperation in diverse areas including enhancing bilateral trade and investment, collaborating with Iraq in rebuilding and re-construction of their infrastructure and sharing of expertise in water management and agriculture.—APP
