“Pakistan Business Day: Post Election Politico-Economic Scene” was held at the German Foreign Office under the aegis of “Asia-Pacific Weeks Berlin-2013.” The event was organized by the Pakistan Embassy in collaboration with Pakistan-German Business Forum and the Social Sciences Research Centre Berlin, on June 07, 2013.
Ambassador Abdul Basit while addressing the participants said that Pakistan straddling South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia had the unique geo-economic advantage. The country also was more competitive and offered far better and easier investment regulatory frameworks than other countries in the region. Companies in the West therefore should look at Pakistan as a country serving three sub regions with the population of over close to three billion.
Referring to Pak-German economic and trade relations, Mr. Basit said that the Roadmap for Strategic Dialogue between the two countries provided a perfect political framework to move forward in many sectors including economic, trade, and investment and surely these relations would expand and strengthen in the coming days. While replying to a question during the Q&A session, Mr. Basit said that civil society, media and the youth had been playing a very positive role to shaping up a moderate, progressive and tolerant society and Pakistan in the near future would be different from the one that the world had seen in the last decade.
Dr. Stephan Oswald, Director General, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in his address said that Germany would continue its support to Pakistan in its endeavor to improve the lives of people of Pakistan. German Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle’s visit to Pakistan soon after the take over by the newly elected government was a strong signal that Germany attached high importance to its relations with Pakistan, Mr. Oswald added.
Mr. Jan Herff of BASF Group Germany made a presentation on the group’s investments and its experiences in Pakistan. He said that BASF entered into the chemical sector of Pakistan in 1969 and witnessed a steady growth touching its revenue to 120 million Euro in 2012. Pakistan is a growing economy and entrepreneurships with a favourable demography and culture and provides a lot of opportunities for investment, he added.
Mr. Adnan Rizvi of KPMG-Taseer Hadi & Co. Pakistan, made a presentation on Investment Opportunities and Challenges in Pakistan. Mr. Hans Jürgen Paschke, Consul and Deputy Head of Mission, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Karachi, in his address, highlighted Pak-German cooperation in the field of development of skilled labour and vocational training in Pakistan. Mr. Horst Rössler, consultant to Pakistan German Business Forum, briefed the participants about various activities being undertaken by the forum to promote trade and business between the two countries.
Earlier, Dr. Talat Mahmood, President Pakistan Forum, Asia Pacific Forum Berlin, welcomed the participants and gave a brief review of the challenges the country was facing in economic and energy sectors and the investment opportunities available in these sectors.
