ISLAMABAD  – Ambassador of Greece to Pakistan Petros Mavroidis Friday visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) for discussing investment and trade opportunities to improve Pak-Greece trade relations.
Pakistan and Greece need to improve their commercial and economic relations to promote bilateral trade and investment by taking advantage of new business opportunities, Grecian Ambassador made these remarks while talking with Yassar Sakhi Butt, President ICCI.
He said that olive oil is one of the major and well-known products of Greece and is known to be the finest in the world. He said that Greece can export huge quantity of Olive oil to Pakistan and it could provide its expertise and experience to plant olive trees on a large scale in Pakistan. Petros Mavroidis said that cooperation in energy sector could be one of the areas for strengthening economic relations between the two countries as current annual bilateral trade between Greece and Pakistan was very low which is around $500million that needs to be enhanced by exploring the areas of common interest. Yassar Sakhi Butt, President ICCI talking to Ambassador said that Pakistan is a peaceful nation and expressed concern on the role of international media that portrayed a very negative image of the country. He said that this is the right time to focus on non-traditional markets, adding that frequent exchange of business delegations and establishing direct B2B contacts are the options, which should be used to exploit untapped bilateral trade and investment potential in both countries.
ICCI president was of the view that investment cooperation was another area in which both countries could collaborate for mutual benefits. Information technology, telecommunication, construction, automobile parts, food processing, fisheries, agriculture, hotel industry and real estate offer tremendous opportunities and potential for cooperation, he added.
He said that organizing of joint cultural shows and frequent exchange of business delegations are the options which can bring people of both the countries closer to each other that would eventually enhance the mutual cooperation between Pakistan and Greece.