Shah Mahmood Qureshi was briefed about the Pakistan Pavilion at the main Expo office on Sunday. News Network International

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday visited Pakistani pavilion at World Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai from Oct. 1 this year.

On the occasion, Pakistan ambassador to UAE Afzal Mahmood, Pakistan Consul General Dubai Consulate Ahmad Amjad Ali and other senior officials of the embassy also accompanied the foreign minister, said a news release.

On Saturday, the foreign minister had arrived Dubai, UAE on a three-day official visit.

The foreign minister, during his visit to expo, said presence of Pakistan pavilion in the international expo being held this year was a manifestation of decades old friendship between Pakistan and UAE.

It also showed the enhanced economic ties and bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries in different sectors, he observed.

Qureshi expressed his pleasure over the role played by huge number of Pakistani diaspora in the progress and development of UAE.

Pakistan pavilion set up during the world expo covered an area of 3450 square feet.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Pakistan wants to have more economic linkages with Germany for enhancement of bilateral trade and investment.

He was addressing a joint news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas after delegation level talks in Berlin.  Shah Mahmood Qureshi said there are great opportunities for Germany to invest in Pakistan in various areas, including renewable energy, electric vehicles, information technology and tourism. The on year-on-year basis, the exports to Germany during February 2021 also increased by 5.48 per cent, from $110.430 million against the exports of $116.489 million.

On month-on-month basis, the exports to Germany however decreased by 6.39 percent during February 2021 as compared to the exports of $124.448 million in January 2021, the SBP data revealed. Overall Pakistan’s exports to all countries witnessed decline of 2.26 per cent in eight months, from $16.438 billion to $16.065 billion, the SBP data revealed.

On the other hand, the imports from Germany into the country during the period under review were recorded at $698.732 million against $658.180 million last year, showing increase of 6.16 per cent in eight months of this year.

Earlier Helal Mohammed Al Hameli, Deputy Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has received Dr Syed Qaiser Anis, President of the Pakistan Business Professional Council - Abu Dhabi (PBPC), at the Chamber’s tower in Abu Dhabi. Dr Hadi Shahid, Founding Member of the PBPC, Mohammed Eqbal Naseem, Vice President of the PBPC, and Sadia Rehan, Board Member of the PBPC, also attended the meeting.

The meeting comes as an extension to previous ones both sides held to discuss the means of increasing trade and investment cooperation between businesses in both countries. During the meeting, President of the PBPC commended the strong and deep relations between the two countries, highlighting the need to strengthen the economic cooperation relations between the two sides and to seize the potential investment opportunities by businesses in both countries.

Dr Anis pointed to the prominent role of bilateral meetings in sharing the knowledge, exchanging experiences, pinpointing the challenges before Pakistani entrepreneurs, and finding possible solutions that can contribute to overcoming such challenges.

For his part, the Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber welcomed the representatives of the PBPC, praising their visit, which would contribute to increasing the cooperation between the Abu Dhabi Chamber and the Pakistani investors in Abu Dhabi and to enhancing the business environment in the emirate.

Al Hameli expressed the readiness of the Chamber to provide the facilities necessary to bring the bilateral relations between the two sides to new levels and to activate the communication channels between the relevant authorities.

Mohammed Hilal Al Mheiri recently held a video conference meeting with Dr Mohammed Shukri Mohammed Saeed, Chairman of the Investment Authority of the Kurdistan Regional Government and Ahmed Al Dhaheri, the UAE Consul General in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

They discussed ways of strengthening economic and business relations between the business sector in both Abu Dhabi and the Kurdistan Region.

Dr Shukri commended the efforts of the Abu Dhabi Chamber and the UAE Consulate in the Kurdistan Region for organising this meeting to discuss the investment opportunities available to UAE companies in the region, which would open up new horizons for bilateral economic cooperation on many levels.

During the meeting, Dr Shukri addressed the most important sectors included in the new investment law in the region based on the diversification of income sources at many levels. He pointed out that the new plan includes dividing the region into 11 industrial zones, and provides more than 1,000 promising investment opportunities, especially since the industrial sector is one of the most important economic tributaries in Iraqi Kurdistan, providing more than 90% of Iraq’s steel needs and many others.