'Britain committed to having friendly relations with Pakistan'

Deputy High Commissioner and Director UK Trade and Investment, Francis Campbell has said the British government is committed to have long-term, productive and friendly relations with Pakistan. Campbell further said that the British government also considered Pakistan as a long-term strategic partner and would continue to support all its endeavours aimed at expansion of trade relations between the two countries.
He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), here on Monday. Campbell also discussed in detail available investment opportunities and exploration of new avenues for investment with the LCCI members. The British government was encouraging its companies to make more investments in Pakistan.
Campbell said that British entrepreneurs working in Pakistan were looking forward to opportunities to further increase their operations by expanding existing projects and exploring new avenues for investment. It is big opportunity for Pakistani businessmen to initiate joint ventures with their UK counterparts. A large number of British firms were keen to invest in Pakistan in different sectors. The British government has been motivating its business community to make investments in Pakistan, he added.
Former President LCCI and SAARC Vice President, Iftikhar Ali Malik said that fostering relations with the UK is a cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy as Pakistan views the United Kingdom as an important member of the G-8 and the European Union. He said that the volume of total two-way trade could easily break the barrier of $2 billion if some further avenues of trade were explored with the joint efforts by both the sides.
Malik said that the UK is well-known for its expertise in agriculture sciences that provide specific insight and technologies into the sub-fields like crop genetics, sustainable pest and disease management, seed and plant sciences, composts & synthetic soils etc. He further said, "We do need your technical help and guidance to make the most of our available agriculture resources and also develop much required agriculture-industry linkage."
He said that Pakistan has a great potential in mines and mineral development, as important minerals found in Pakistan are iron ores, limestone, chromites, silver, gold, gems stones, marble, copper, graphite etc. He urged the British investors to explore the untapped potential of this sector.
The UK has gone one step ahead from industrial textiles through mastering in technical textiles, which describes the growing variety of products and manufacturing techniques for technical properties and performance. Being dependent on textiles sector which directly and indirectly engages almost two third of Pakistan's resources, transfer of UK technology to Pakistan would be of great help. Other sectors include medical technologies with special focus on industrial biotechnology and science parks. Moreover, he said, the UK was successfully implementing very advanced systems in education and banking sectors therefore, joint ventures could be a good option to develop these sectors on modern lines in Pakistan. In addition to that oil and gas exploration sector of Pakistan could be another area of mutual benefits for both the countries, he added.
LCCI former Presidents Mian Anjum Nisar, Mian Muzaffar Ali, former Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik, former Vice President Aftab Ahmad Vohra and Convenors of LCCI standing committees Mian Zahid Javaid also spoke on the occasion.