'Great potential to boost economic ties between Pakistan and Canada'

Pakistan and Canada need to reinforce their bilateral economic relationship, specially trade and commercial exchanges for which there is a great potential, High Commissioner to Canada, Musa Javed Chohan said while addressing the ambassador's roundtable organised by the prestigious institution the Norman Patterson School for International Affairs at the Carleton University in Ottawa.
Chohan said that with a population of approximately 165 million people, Pakistan offers an attractive and huge market for Canadian exports and investments. "Foreign investment is critical to our endeavours to maintain our economic growth rate of 7 percent so necessary to meet the requirements of our burgeoning population," he added.
Highlighting Pakistan's contributions in the war against terrorism, Chohan said Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism in its national interest and making every possible effort to eliminate this scourge from the globe. He said peace, stability and security in Afghanistan were crucial for Pakistan. Without stability in Afghanistan there cannot be stability in Pakistan.
Pakistan was providing $300 million for Afghanistan's reconstruction, besides offering 1000 scholarships for training of Afghan cadres. He said Pakistan was following a policy of constructive engagement with the Karzai government. Pakistan has deployed 100,000 troops to fight terrorism, which is more than the collective presence of international troops, deployed across Afghanistan.
Chohan said there were institutional frameworks available for co-ordinating military actions in Afghanistan such as the Tripartite Military Commission. As far as Pakistan was concerned, it will continue its efforts to eradicate the menace of terrorism and extremism, which affects the fabric of body politics. Chohan appreciated the sacrifices made by Canada in the war against terrorism. He said Canadian involvement and troops presence in Afghanistan added another perspective to Pakistan-Canada relations.
He said Pakistan was firm in its commitments to Afghanistan and hoped that other nations involved were equal in their resolve. Talking of bilateral relations, he said there was a strong political will at the highest level to further strengthen and broaden Canada-Pakistan relationship. The function was attended by Canadian Academia, intelligentsia and media persons.