SIALKOT
Ambassador of Greece in Pakistan Petros Mavroidis stressed a need for making an all-out effort to boost trade ties between his country and Pakistan, and offered the exporters easy access to European Union especially Greece markets.
Addressing a meeting of Sialkot exporters held at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the ambassador said that both the countries enjoy friendly and cordial trade relations. He added that the time was ripe now to further strengthen these ties, as all the things were moving to the right direction in this regard.
He said that Pakistan had a lot of opportunities to explore and capture the Greek trade markets and even the European markets through Greece. He said that Greece was ready to help Pakistan overcome the persisting energy crisis. He suggested that Pakistan could reduce the consumption of gas by ensuring maximum use of solar energy, saying that several Greek companies were ready to invest in Pakistan’s textile, agriculture, solar energy, leather, sports and other trade fields, besides, having joint ventures in these trade fields.
The envoy revealed that though his country was not in favour of awarding the GSP Plus to Pakistan by EU, but wanted to see economic, political, diplomatic and cultural stability in Pakistan, besides, establishing very strong relation with Pakistan. He said that the Greece had successfully tackled the economic crisis caused by the illegal immigration.
He offered an easy and hurdle-free access of Sialkot exporters to Greek markets, saying that the Sialkot exporters have potential enough to explore and capture the Greek markets by exporting their diversified exports. He noted that the Greek companies wanted to establish joint ventures with Sialkot business community in different trade fields and will soon reach Sialkot for launching joint ventures.
He said that his country intended to have developed and strengthened trade relations with Pakistan, and would ensure easy access of Sialkot exporters to EU and Greek markets.
SCCI President Dr Sarfraz Bashir, Senior Vice President Mian Muhammad Anwar and Vice President Khawar Sapal were also present. On the occasion, the Sialkot exporters emphasised that both the countries must further strengthen economic relations, through facilitation of governments and close coordination of private sectors.
They were of the view that the Greek market has big demand for the items produced in Sialkot-Pakistan.  There is a great potential for establishing joint ventures and business cooperation between Greek and Sialkot based companies especially in the fields of sports goods, surgical instruments and leather products.
The SCCI president said that the Pakistan-made footballs, field hockey sticks, cricket gear, and boxing gloves are used in international games including the Olympics and World Cups and most of the developed countries are importing surgical instruments from Sialkot.  In leather products and textile sportswear, the exporters excel in quality and style and Similar is the case with other items produced in Sialkot, he said.
Earlier, the ambassador also visited several industrial units in Sialkot amid tight security. He witnessed the international standard craftsmanship of Sialkot based artisans.