ISLAMABAD (WEB DESK)
Ethiopia has strong economic ties with Turkiye & UAE and Ethiopia wants similar relations with Pakistan. China and India have good presence in Ethiopia and Pakistan should increase its presence in the Ethiopian market to explore the untapped land of Africa. Many Pakistani products including textiles, pharmaceuticals, cement have great potential in Ethiopia and the business community of Pakistan capitalize on this potential for exports. This was said by H.E. Jemal Beker Abdula, Ambassador of Ethiopia while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI).
Jemal Beker Abdula termed the visit of Pakistani business delegation to Ethiopia as Hijra Trade, which was very successful. He said that after the visit of the Pakistani delegation to Ethiopia, he received calls from many African countries including Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya who showed interest in promoting trade ties with Pakistan. He said that Africa is endowed with great natural resources and close cooperation of Pakistan with Ethiopia would help it get better penetration in the African region for trade and exports. He said that a high-level delegation of Ethiopia is likely to visit Pakistan in near future that would further strengthen trade ties between the two countries.
Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan and Ethiopia should sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) that would remove trade barriers and boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ethiopia. He said that the Ambassador should take up the PTA matter with Pakistan authorities and assured that ICCI would extend all possible cooperation in such efforts. He thanked the Ambassador and the Ethiopian authorities for giving warm reception and great hospitality to the ICCI delegation during its very successful visit to Addis Ababa from March 5-11, 2023.
Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that Africa is very important for Pakistan and the Pakistani private sector would like to develop strong business linkages with Ethiopian counterparts to get better access to the African market for business and investment.
Engr. Muhammad Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan has good potential to promote business relations with Ethiopia and hoped that the visit of the Ethiopian delegation to Pakistan would further expand trade relations between the two countries.
Khalid Iqbal Malik Group Leader, Zafar Bakhtawari, Sheikh Ejaz, Humayun Kabir, Muhammad Shabbir, Akhtar Hussain and others also spoke at the occasion and gave useful proposals for improving Pak-Ethiopia trade and economic ties.