As many as 37 Italian businessmen led by Italian Deputy Minister Ivan Scalfarotto, are currently on a visit to Pakistan for exploring investment avenues besides joint ventures in various sectors. The Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) organised a round-table discussion with the visiting Italian delegation comprising of Italian furniture producers on current trends in Pakistan and Italian furniture sector here on Tuesday. Council's Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq briefed the delegation about the investment potential in furniture sector.
The business representatives from both sides agreed on regular exchange of visits besides sharing information with each other. Both sides would also update each other about the international market, he added. He said, "Italian companies would provide machineries and expertise for quality promotion and value addition of Pakistani products besides services for technological training and capacity-building in rural development and health sector. Additionally, we can also invest in large manufacturing and infrastructure sectors."
He told that the total volume of trade between Pakistan and Italy stood at $1.1 billion but we have decided to enhance our bilateral trade to $1.5 billion from this year. "Italy is the fourth largest investor in Pakistan following China, UAE and Hong Kong with a total investment valuing at $100 million along with bilateral trade worth $1 billion," he added.
"Our focus is on energy, infrastructure, automobiles, agro food, pharmaceuticals, marble, stones, furniture and textiles. Pakistan's main items of export are cotton fabrics, woven made-up articles of textile materials, articles of apparel, chemicals, leather products and cotton yarn," he said. Major items of import from Italy include machinery and its parts, cereals and cereals preparations, medical and pharmaceutical products and wheat", he said.
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