Tariq Khattak
Islamabad: The Ambassador designate of Pakistan to Tunisia, Javed Ahmed Umrani hosted a lunch for the business community of Tunisia at the chancery.
It was attended by renowned businessmen of Tunisia, including presidents, vice presidents, and executive heads of different business chambers, including the Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce, and Handicraft (UTICA), Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Tunis (TCCI) and the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries (UTAP).
The heads of the Textile Federation, Electricity Federation, Hotel Federation, Vocational Training Federation, Garments Federation, and Chemicals Federation also attended the function.
Ambassador of Tunisia to Pakistan Borhene Kamal, Honorary Consul General of Tunisia to Pakistan (for Peshawar region) Mr. Ammad Rasheed and Honorary Consul of Pakistan to Tunisia (for Sfax region) Anwar Triki were also present at the event.
Ambassador designate Javed Ahmed Umrani informed participants about Pakistan’s Engage Africa policy with the opening of five new diplomatic missions on the African continent and two new African missions in Pakistan.
He also informed that about the opportunities available in Pakistan for foreign investment under various CPEC projects. He gave a brief overview of Tunisia-Pakistan bilateral trade relations, their trade volume, and important sectors of trade for both countries.
The ambassador also highlighted ways to increase bilateral trade between both countries, which include frequent exchange of trade delegations, the arrangement of single-country exhibitions, and the signing of a Preferential Agreement between the two countries.
The Ambassador stressed that the holding of the upcoming 10th Joint Commission on Economic, Trade, and Technical Matters between Pakistan and Tunisia will ensure the signing of a number of MoUs and the holding of meetings between Joint Working Groups (JWG) revived by Ministries of both sides in sectors such as olive cultivation, industries, energy, and mining.
He explicitly mentioned that Pakistan, with its 241 million population and 60% youth, is a huge consumer market and a great exporter of skilled labor. His remarks were followed by short addresses by both countries honorary consuls, who promised to work to enhance trade on both sides, working diligently under the given mandate.
Among many areas of cooperation, textiles, agriculture, electrical industries, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and surgery were key areas that came under discussion. The Tunisian Ambassador highlighted that Tunisian businessmen need to learn more about Pakistan’s markets, especially in the textile sector, as Pakistan has very low tariff rates, cheap labour, and raw materials and processing units that Tunisia needs to import.
He offered that Pakistan may benefit from Tunisia’s free trade agreements with the European Union and European countries and also from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement that was ratified by Tunisia in July 2020.
Pakistan can benefit from this agreement by reaching out to African markets as part of a triangular trade and investment cooperation agreement with Tunisian firms and companies, he added.
The meeting ended with the presentation of mementos to honorary consuls of Tunisia in Pakistan and vice versa.