Conference in Portugal to lure investment in CPEC

ISLAMABAD: In order to promote foreign investment in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an International Investment Conference is scheduled to be held in Porto, Portugal in mid October 2017.

The conference will be organized by the Bridging Trade International (BTI) from October 12 to 15 which is aimed at promoting and bringing foreign investment especially from European Union (EU) countries.

The conference titled "Bridging Trade and Investment Conference 2017" was being organized in collaboration with Business Association of Portugal and other global partners including Board of Investment (BOI), known business leader and chief organizer of conference Wasim Khokhar told APP here on Saturday.

The motto of this conference would bring stakeholders together which undoubtedly would lead to greater benefits for Pakistan, he said.

"We are committed to bring foreign investment for CPEC by exploring new markets in EU countries," he said adding the main objective of conference was to enhance the level of foreign investment, concentrating specifically on the fields of infrastructure, software development, electronics, engineering, agro-food, value-added textile, tourism and construction industries.

Wasim Khokhar said that in first phase, BTI would organize conference in Portugal and the second phase would consist of a series of conferences in different EU countries for promoting and attracting foreign investment in Pakistan.

This event will bring together business leaders from a diverse group of companies and help them select locations for investment and market development and link businesses, researchers and investments for enabling communities.

He said that main objectives of the conference was to introduce the foreign investors to the facilitation and policies on CPEC besides opportunities on CPEC for industries and SMEs, total industrial zones, Gwadar port and Gwadar Airport.

Replying to question, he said the event was also aimed at reviewing activities related to connection of stakeholders within the region to assess the possibilities for future businesses.

He elaborated that BTI was an investment forum that had been established keeping the vision of promoting Pakistan and its products and industry around the globe.

BTI has its head Office in Central Europe, Warsaw capital of Poland to cover the European markets, also having presence in China and recently opened their new branch office in Brazil.

He said that Pakistan's geographical location existed on one of the most important trade routes of the world and this area had traditionally been a centre for exchange of cultures and commerce of South, South East, West and Central Asia.

The country had an important geo-strategic location which shared borders with China, Iran, Afghanistan, India, while the Arabian Sea to the South offered a vast coastline for maritime trade, he added.

He said that population of approximately 190 million in Pakistan also had easy access to the markets of Iran, Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics and the Middle East.

With the fast developing communication infrastructure in the country, Pakistan is well placed as a transit route for East-West trade in this era of increasing globalization.