Japan to play role of bridge between Japan & Sialkot: envoy

Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Takashi KURAI on Monday said Japan and Pakistan were enjoying cordial relations since long and those relations would be further strengthened with the passage of time. While addressing the members of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), he said Sialkot was famous for SMEs and the SMEs were the foundation of the industry of the country, adding there were 98 percent SMEs in Japan.
The Japanese Ambassador further stated that "we would like to play a role of bridge between Japan and Sialkot for accelerating the pace of business activities. The industrial sector of Sialkot playing an instrumental role in producing quality products including Martial Art Uniform," he added.
In his address of welcome President SCCI Majid Raza Bhutta said Japan had always been at the forefront whenever Pakistan was in need. "We hope the relations between the two countries would further strengthen, flourishing on mutual trust and collaboration of private sector," he said. The SCCI President further stated that despite having immense prospects of growth, the trade between the two countries is under potential. In 2015 Pakistan exports to Japan were 176 million dollars while imports were 1.82 billion dollars. There was an urgent need to strengthen linkages between private sectors of the two countries for enhancing bilateral trade, he said.
The Japanese market had enormous demand for the items produced in Sialkot like sports goods, surgical instruments, leather products, gloves of all sorts, textiles items, sports wear, martial arts uniforms & accessories, musical instruments, kitchen ware, hollow ware, knives, cutlery items and military uniform badges etc, he said. The SCCI President further stated, "We are convinced that there is a huge scope for establishing joint ventures and business co-operation between Japan and Sialkot based companies."
Majid said in order to improve trade, it was also essential that that visa facility for members be made easily available. "SCCI has an elaborate system for issuing Visa Recommendation Letters to members who are recommended after foolproof verification," adding Japanese Embassy might consider recommendation of SCCI positively to facilitate interaction between private sectors.