Karachi : Mr. Muhammad Suleman Chawla, Acting President FPCCI, has apprised that Ms. Christina McKelvie, Scotland’s Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, has expressed Scottish Government’s commitment to promote bilateral trade; B2B linkages; investments & joint ventures and cultural exchanges with Pakistan.
Mr. Chawla highlighted that a high-profile delegation of FPCCI’s Pak – UK Business Council (PUKBC) is visiting Scotland in coordination with Scottish Chamber of Commerce (SCC) – which has planned various meetings and visits for the FPCCI delegation.
Ms. Christina McKelvie stressed that Scotland will be facilitating business communities of both the countries to enhance the volume of bilateral trade through full-fledged support to SCC & FPCCI.
Mr. Suleman Chawla added that FPCCI is looking forward to Scottish investment and cooperation in infrastructure development, renewable energy, water resource management, financial services, food & beverages, healthcare services and retailing ventures.
Acting FPCCI Chief, Mr. Suleman Chawla, explained that this visit is a follow-up to the Trade Cooperation Memorandum signed between SCC & FPCCI in September 2022 and the delegation is led by Mr. Imran Khalil Naseer, Chairman of FPCCI’s Pak – UK Business Council.
The real test of success for Bilateral Trade MOUs lies in the follow-up activities and FPCCI has obtained the support of Scottish Minister for International Development and her government in this regard, Mr. Chawla added.
Mr. Suleman Chawla maintained that Pakistan can help Scotland reduce their cost of doing business (COBD) through providing skilled, abundant and cheap workforce, business process outsourcing (BPO) and facilitation with sourcing competitive products & services to make Scottish businesses more competitive vis-a-vis their European counterparts.
Dr. Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scotland’s Chamber of Commerce, expressed her satisfaction that the Scottish Government has extended their support to Pakistani businessmen to achieve the objectives of MOU between the two counterpart chambers.
Mr. Imran Khalil Naseer emphasized that Pakistan is a developing market with an enormous 64 percent young population; the country has successfully revived IMF program; CPEC projects have gained momentum; Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been set up to enable investors, entrepreneurs and business groups to take up mega projects in IT & ITes; agriculture &food security; defense production; power & energy and tourism development. These developments have paved the way for enhanced cooperation in trade, industry and investments into Pakistan, he added.
FPCCI’s PUKBC also facilitated Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) with their visit of SCC and create necessary linkages with the Scotland’s business community – and, enable their Pakistani counterparts to enhance country’s exports to Scotland.
Dr. Jeanette Forbes, SCC’s Ambassador for Pakistan; Mr. Shafiq Shahzad, Trade & Investment Minister at Pakistan High Commission in UK and Mr. Muhammad Akhtar, Trade and Investment Attaché for Scotland &North of England, also graced the event.
