ISLAMABAD - Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), in its survey of Japanese companies working in Asia, has rated Pakistan as the top destination for Japanese investors.

This was informed by President of JETRO Yasushi Akahoshi during a meeting with Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Naeem Y Zamindar, who called on him in Tokyo, a press statement received here Tuesday said.

During the meeting, Akahoshi apprised the minister of state of JETRO’s activities in promoting trade and investment cooperation between Japan and Pakistan and presented the results of JETRO survey of Japanese companies in Asia released this month.

In the survey, Pakistan was rated at the top in Asia by Japanese companies for expected profits in 2018, plans for expansion of operations and hiring of local labour force. These results indicate high confidence of Japanese companies in future economic prospects of Pakistan and quality of labour force.

Meanwhile Naeem Y Zamindar met Senior Deputy Foreign Minister of Japan Kazuyuki Yamazaki and discussed with him matters of mutual interest.

Chairman of BoI informed Yamazaki that Pakistan was aiming for a 9% economic growth rate by 2020 and there was a general consensus across political spectrum in Pakistan on achieving sustained economic growth. He also echoed Price Waterhouse coopers projection that Pakistan would be joining G-20 by 2030.

Yamazaki welcomed chairman of BoI to Japan and said Pakistan-Japan relations had a long history. He remarked that given Pakistan’s low labour cost and large and young population, it represented an attractive environment for Japanese investors.

He underscored that there was potential for mutual cooperation between Japan and Pakistan. It was agreed that the forthcoming High Level Economic Policy Dialogue provides a good platform to continue the conversation on how best to realize this potential.

In another meeting with Naeem Y Zamindar, Chairman of Pakistan Japan Bossiness Cooperation Committee Teruo Asada, and chairman of Marubeni Corporation stressed the importance of continuing high-level engagement between the governments and businesses of the two countries and discussed the scheduling of the next round of Joint Government Business Dialogue later this year.

Earlier, Director General of South Asia of JICA Keiichiro Nakazawa also called on chairman of BoI. Senior management of Mitsui Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation also met with the chairman of BoI during his visit to Tokyo to discuss the possibility of developing new project investment in Pakistan.