KARACHI – President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday termed decision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan to boost trade with Qatar a great decision.
The business community of Pakistan welcomes the decision and support it unconditionally, he said.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the move will increase bilateral trade, reduce unemployment and support forex reserves.
The former minister noted that the trade agreements with Qatar should be finalized as soon as possible while the private sector should also capitalize the opportunity.
He said that Qatar is holding the football world cup in 2022 while will result in opportunities for Pakistan’s sports goods sector while many people would be required there for security purposes.
Some reputed Qatri companies are also interested in investing in the local energy sector which should be encouraged as people are already thankful for the cooperation of brotherly country in LNG sector which resulted in savings of billions of dollars.
Mian Zahid Hussain recalled that Pakistan remained neutral during tensions among Qatar and other countries while Pakistan exporters filled the gap which benefitted both the countries.
He said increased relations is resulting in increased traffic requiring more flights as the trade has witnessed as increase of 63 percent to 9.5 billion riyals in just one year.
One hundred and fifty thousand Pakistanis are serving in Qatar which can be doubled while the annual remittances of 400 million dollars can be increased with little efforts which will strengthen forex reserves and local currency, he said.
