{"id":65497,"date":"2026-08-19T10:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/?p=65497"},"modified":"2026-08-19T10:45:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:45:45","slug":"pakistan-tunisia-preferential-trade-agreement-to-open-new-avenues-for-bilateral-commerce-tunisian-envoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/2026\/08\/19\/pakistan-tunisia-preferential-trade-agreement-to-open-new-avenues-for-bilateral-commerce-tunisian-envoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan-Tunisia Preferential Trade Agreement to Open New Avenues for Bilateral Commerce: Tunisian Envoy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Naveed Ahmad Khan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ISLAMABAD, August 19, 2026: Tunisia\u2019s Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires Ms. Dorsaf Maaroufi has said that the Preferential Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Tunisia will create new opportunities for expanding bilateral trade and commercial activities.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a farewell reception hosted in her honour by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), she said Pakistan and Tunisia needed to further strengthen their economic and trade relations and intensify efforts to increase bilateral commerce.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-65499 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689.jpeg 1500w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-300x132.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-1024x449.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-768x337.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-957x420.jpeg 957w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-150x66.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-696x305.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-2.39.10-PM-e1787136213689-1068x468.jpeg 1068w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>Ms. Maaroufi appreciated Pakistan\u2019s principled foreign policy and its support for oppressed nations, particularly its backing of Tunisia\u2019s position at the United Nations. She also recalled the visit of a large ICCI business delegation to Tunisia in 2025, which participated in the International Coffee Festival and signed agreements with various Chambers of Commerce. She termed the visit an important milestone in promoting bilateral trade and expressed hope that cooperation would continue under her successor.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling her five-year diplomatic assignment in Pakistan, Ms. Maaroufi said the country had become an important part of her professional and personal life. She said that although she was leaving Pakistan physically, the country would remain in her heart and memories, and she would continue contributing to stronger Pakistan-Tunisia friendship after returning home.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary General United Business Group Zafar Bakhtawari said Pakistan and Tunisia enjoyed deep-rooted, historic and brotherly relations, but their economic and trade ties needed to be brought at par with their strong political and diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled that Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba had visited Karachi in 1951 during Tunisia\u2019s struggle against French colonial rule. Pakistan extended moral and political support to Tunisia\u2019s struggle for self-determination, establishing a bond of friendship that predated Tunisia\u2019s independence in 1956 and formal diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-65501 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-630x420.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-696x464.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-19-at-12.34.52-PM-1068x712.jpeg 1068w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/>Bakhtawari said this historic legacy should now be translated into stronger trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people cooperation. He paid tribute to Ms. Maaroufi for her five years of diplomatic service and appreciated her contribution to strengthening relations between the Tunisian Embassy and ICCI.<\/p>\n<p>Acting President ICCI Irfan Chaudhry said Pakistan must transform its longstanding friendship with African countries into stronger trade, investment and business partnerships. He said greater economic engagement with Africa could create new opportunities for Pakistani businesses and support national economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>Director Foreign Affairs, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Asif Luqman Qazi highlighted Tunisia\u2019s contributions to Islamic civilization, education, culture and intellectual development. He said Tunisia had historically been an important centre of knowledge and learning and was also the birthplace of the Arab Spring.<\/p>\n<p>Participants paid tribute to Ms. Maaroufi\u2019s services and expressed hope that she would continue to serve as a goodwill ambassador for Pakistan-Tunisia friendship, helping promote stronger economic, diplomatic and people-to-people ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Naveed Ahmad Khan ISLAMABAD, August 19, 2026: Tunisia\u2019s Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires Ms. Dorsaf Maaroufi has said that the Preferential Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Tunisia will create new opportunities for expanding bilateral trade and commercial activities. Speaking at a farewell reception hosted in her honour by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), she said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[116,31,1548,1549],"class_list":["post-65497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-diplomats","tag-islamabad-chamber-of-commerce-and-industry","tag-naveed-ahmad-khan","tag-pakistan-tunisia-preferential-trade-agreement-to-open-new-avenues-for-bilateral-commerce-tunisian-envoy","tag-pakistan-tunisia-relations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65503,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65497\/revisions\/65503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}