LAHORE - The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) and Canada-Pakistan Business Council (CPBC) on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), committing the enhanced trade and investment in Pakistan through joint ventures.
All Pakistan Business Forum newly-elected President Ibrahim Qureshi and Canada-Pakistan Business Council President Samir Dossal represented their respective Organizations to sign the deal.
Highlighting the importance of the MoU, APBF President observed that there were a number of sectors that had a huge potential for cooperation, adding livestock and agriculture were the two areas in which cooperation could benefit both countries.
He said that Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be a landmark in developing trade and economic ties between Pakistan and Canada. It will have an effect of direct investment on project-to-project basis and to enhance market access for Pakistani goods to the Canadian market.
Similarly, the Canadian businessmen will have access to credible partners to do joint ventures in Pakistan through the forum of The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF).
Canada, Samir Dossal said, pursued a wide range of interests in bilateral relations with Pakistan, including trade and investment, development cooperation, people-to-people links and governance. He said bilateral trade statistics of Pakistan and Canada showed both concern and hope as the volume of trade with Canada was minimal in terms of its total trade but there was room for enhancing the current level of trade and relation.
He said a little sector-specific effort could jack-up trade volume between both countries to around $2 billion in comming few years.
All Pakistan Business Forum newly-elected President Ibrahim Qureshi said the target could only be achieved by undertaking frequent activities like exchange of business delegations, organising single-country exhibitions, seminars and workshops.
He said the main sectors of opportunity for Canadian businessmen and joint ventures included in sector of power and energy, agriculture food-breeding stock, food processing equipment and technology, telecommunication/information technology, metals and minerals equipment, services and technology.