ISLAMABAD (PRESS RELEASE)
The Pakistan-Brazil Business Forum (PBBF) has been formed to help enhance economic cooperation between the two countries.
Headquartered in Islamabad, the PBFF will have its sub-offices in other parts of the country and in Brazil.
Ambassador of Brazil to Pakistan Claudio Lins and President FPCCI Ghazanfar Bilour formally announced the formation of the forum at a ceremony which was attended by the business leaders from different cities of the country.
Honorary consul generals of Brazil at Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar and representatives of different chambers of commerce and trade associations also attended the meeting.
Speaking at the occasion, co-chairmen of the forum Claudio Lins and Ghazanfar Bilour said that PBBF will be an independent and apolitical body which will focus on enhancing trade through various initiatives including facilitation, information and identifying the barriers.
We want to kick-start economic activity, generate employment, improve taxation and remove unnecessary hurdles being faced by the importers and exporters.
We will play a meaningful role in suggesting practical solutions worthy of serious consideration at policy-making level to accelerate the business activities as the current level of trade between the two countries is dismal, they vowed.
Ghazanfar Bilour said that Brazil is the eighth largest economy in the world but our mutual trade is a little more than half a billion dollar which can be increased substantially through mutual efforts.
Bilateral trade is tilted towards the friendly country which calls for efforts to make it balanced, he underlined.
Brazil has largest hydropower capacity in the world while it has achieved a lot in renewable sources which can be beneficial to Pakistan, he added.
Textiles, Education, agriculture, sports goods and pharmaceuticals other subjects in which both countries can work together, he said, adding that Pakistan has great potential to produce biofuels from ethanol in which the Brazilian side is interested.
He said that we will soon send a delegation to Brazil to explore business opportunities and meet with the government officials and our counterparts and open a display centre of Pakistan products to promote trade.
Chairman Coordination of the Forum Malik Sohail said that many European countries are importing quality products from Pakistan and exporting it to Brazil as their brands at exorbitant rates which indicate lack of connections between the business communities of the both friendly countries.
The office bearers and members of the forum included SVP and VPs FPCCI Mazhar Ali Nasir, Karim Aziz Malik, and Atif Ikram Sheikh, Malik Zubair, Aamer Ata Bajwa, Adeel Rauf, Ahmed Aziz Bilour, Amer Faruque, Amna Munawar Awan, Azhara Jamshed, Hassan Mansha, Huzaifa Siddiqui, Iftikhar Khan, Irfanul Haq Qureshi, Ms. Mehtab Khan, Muteeb Siddiqi, Omer Jaffer, Riaz Arshad, Mr. Romulo Neves, Samra Akhtar, and Tanveer Afsar Malik.