ISLAMABABD: Head of Public Affairs Section of Embassy of Japan, Katsunori Asida said here Wednesday that Japan welcomed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it would help improve the investment climate in Pakistan and his country would take part in the development and economic activities in due course.
"We are very positive about CPEC and we don't have any reservations on it as it will improve the infrastructure in Pakistan," he said, while briefing the newsmen at his residence on the visit of State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Nabuo Kishi.
The State Foreign Minister is here to sign an agreement with the Government of Pakistan Thursday to provide ODA loan of up to 2,665 million yen for the Islamabad and Burhan Transmission Line Reinforcement Project.
Katsunori Asida said the CEPEC was a very critical and important project for Pakistan's development and had great potential for local and foreign investment.
He hoped that the CPEC would help Pakistan grow and develop that would also help Japan to avail the investment opportunities by expanding its economic activities in this region.
He said Pakistan was sitting next to two big markets of China and India and such initiatives would enhance its economic importance further to capture other markets.
Responding to a query, he said the Pak-Japan mutual trade volume was about US$ 2 billion. Japan exported mainly machinery, vehicles, steels etc to the tune of US$ 1.8 billion to Pakistan while it imported goods like chemical products and textiles worth US$ 0.2 billion from the latter.
To another question, he said the Free Trade Agreement would be beneficial for both the countries. No such agreement had so far been signed between the two countries.
About the Pak-Japan high level contacts, he said the Prime Minister of Japan had a summit with his Pakistani counterpart during the UN general Assembly session last year. However, he said the ministers and other high ranking officials visited Pakistan every year and the relations of the two countries were going smooth.
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