The Pakistan Japan Business Forum was formed on February 6th, 2001 at a ceremony at the Consul General of Japan's official residence in Karachi in the presence of Japanese and Pakistani Diplomats as well as other dignitaries. The purpose of establishing the Pakistan Japan Business Forum was to improve trade and investment between Pakistan and Japan with the co-operation of diplomatic missions working in both countries and to support the private sectors of both through close co-operation between the Pakistan Japan Business Forum, Japan Pakistan Business Co-operation Committee and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce.
To achieve the objectives desired by PJBF & JPBCC, the first Joint Dialogue was held on September 3rd, 2001 at Karachi and a joint declaration was signed. Consecutively the 6th Business to Business and 4th Business to Government dialogue was held this year on 21st and 22nd March 2012 in Tokyo in the presence of the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan and the Ministry of Economic Trade and Industry Japan whereas the PJBF & JPBCC represented the private sectors of both countries.
The Pakistani delegation was lead by Zafar Mahmood, Secretary Ministry of Commerce and Industry accompanied by Noor Mohammad Jadmani, Ambassador to Pakistan, Tariq Iqbal Puri, CEO TDAP, Aitazaz A. Niazi CEO, Engineering Development Board, Abdul Kader Jaffer Chairman / CEO Pakistan Japan Business Forum, Farrukh Shaikh , Former President PJBF, Satoshi Nakagawa, General Manager Marubeni Corporation, Pakistan and SVC PJBF, Kimihide Ando , General Manager Mitsubishi corporation, Pakistan VC PJBF, Sohail P. Ahmed, Vice Chairman House of Habib, VC PJBF, Kalim Farooqui, Managing Director, Technology Link , General Secretary PJBF, Syed Feroz Alam Shah, MD Federal Trading and Advisor to BOI and Treasurer to PJBF, Kaoru Shiraishi, DG, Jetro, Misao Nagase, Advisor to BOI, Nadeem Saigol, COO, Matrix and member of PJBF, Khalid Chaudhy, Y. Motomura Director PJBF / General Itochu Corporation Pakistan, Y. Mizuno Director PJBF / Chief Representative Toyota Tsushu Corporation, Toshio Fujita Member / Consultant Saita Pakistan Zafar Iqbal Choudhry Member PJBF / President Hayat Investment Mati Un Zia. Member PJBF / Al Mughni Trading, Syed Nadeem Alam Shah Honorary Consul General Consulate General of Japan - Peshawar Osamu Sakamura Member PJBF / Deputy General Manager Bank of Tokyo -Pakistan Rahman Hamid , Secretary Economic Section, Pakistan Embassy Tokyo, and Ms Shaheena Anjum Executive Officer PJBF. Teruo Asada, President Japan Pakistan Co-operation Committee, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, CEO Marubeni Corporation headed the Japanese side while 69 Japanese companies participated including officials from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JICA, JETRO and Ministry of Trade and Industry Japan.
The agenda for the 6th Joint Dialogue was to focus and plan a long term strategy for Future economic development in Pakistan, identification of priority areas for future investment , business environment and its development, challenges and solutions of major sectors in Pakistan, means to enhance exports of Pakistan, made products to Japan and Pakistani fruits and horticulture and leather products.
Teruo Asada, Chairman JPBCC welcomed to the delegation and stated that the year 2012 is not only important for the 6th Joint Dialogue but it is also a milestone as this marks 60 years of Pakistan and Japan diplomatic relations since 1952. He hoped that the Joint Dialogue 2012 will be useful for both countries and will work towards enhanced trade and investment.
Abdul Kader Jaffer, Chairman PJBF thanked JPBCC for hosting the Joint Dialogue 2012 and expressed that the people of Pakistan very sincerely focus on TRADE NOT AID. He requested the Japanese counterparts to expand trade and increase investment in Pakistan while reducing duties and relaxing other taxes to improve trade was also discussed.
H.E. Noor Mohammad Jadmani Ambassador of Pakistan to Japan commented that Business to Business and Business to Government dialogue was a positive development and there lies a high level of encouragement to trade and investment between both countries. He hoped Joint Dialogue would continue to be a regular platform for times to come and in closing he also congratulated Asada and Jaffer for making the Joint Dialogue possible.
Kunio Umeda, DG, Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs also spoke and stated that he believed in social economic stability of Pakistan as a very important factor for the region as well as his belief in Japan's continued co-operation with Pakistan to improve the overall socio-economic structure of the country. Additionally he stated that the visit of H.E President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and the declaration of a Joint Statement to encourage investment in Pakistan is also being followed, while constructive proposals pertaining to the Auto Industry by both countries would certainly help in the growth and development of these sectors which one of the major streams of investment from Japan today.
Nobuhiko Sasaki, DG, Trade Policy Bureau METI, shared that that 3 points have to be addressed which is related to the activity of the Japanese auto sector operating in Pakistan which covering difficulties in the CNG Sector as well as the deregulation of used cars. He stated that these were challenges and issues that he suggested should be taken up in the 2nd Joint Dialogue. Another point he covered was the role of the Textile Industry in Japan, where while the exports of cotton yarn are declining from Pakistan inspite of the fact that the country is known to be amongst the best cotton producers, as such to rectify this situation exhibitions related to the Textile & Cotton sector in Japan would certainly help the export of this commodity as many Japanese companies have expressed interest in Pakistani cotton. Finally he concluded by saying that the overall business environment must be improved in Pakistan, while President Zardari during his last visit to Japan through the BOI formulated an investment action program which was appreciated and steps are being taken that the Government of Pakistan will implement this action plan shortly to attract Foreign Direct Investment from Japan and other countries.
Zafar Mahmood, Secretary Commerce and who was heading the Pakistani delegation in his key note address stated that the Pakistani business community had suffered many setbacks given Pakistan's stand on the war against terror. He also spoke about exploring the possibilities of how Pakistani exporters could add value to products being exported to Japan. While Pakistan has recently started working with regional communities and is looking into such opportunities, Japan being one of world's leading economies, could help Pakistan and India to maintain friendly economic relations. He also stated that a peaceful Afghanistan will certainly help Pakistan in terms of accessing Central Asia.
Sohail P. Ahmed, shared facts and figures and incentives available in potential sectors such as mines and minerals and diary in a Special Economic Zone. Feroz Alam Shah, presented activities of the Board of Investment Pakistan and shred potential opportunities in Joint Ventures in areas such as dairy, fisheries, engineering, mines and minerals and in solar projects to name a few.
Kaoru Shiraishi proposed recommendations in order to improve the business environment in Pakistan and to facilitate the foreign countries. Nobuhiko Sasaki, DG, Trade and Policy Bureau Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also shared his views. The 2nd Plenary session was focused on challenges and solutions faced by the business community where the Auto Industry was presented by Sohail P. Ahmed and Takao Inoue, GM, Toyota Motor Japan. Recommendations were made that the restriction on the ban of used cars and localisation of auto parts would make the Pakistani automobile sector strong. And he proposed that without human skill development, Pakistan would not be able to grow hence technical institutions related to the auto sector were also required through the assistance of Japan.
As Pakistan is known to be amongst the best producer of cotton and leather in the world, Nadeem Saigol presented an overview of the Pakistani Textile Industry with the proposal of reducing duty on exports to Japan. Takahisa Suzuki, SGM, Maurbeni also recommended that in order to access the Japanese market it would be important for Pakistan to have an aggressive approach with regard to price, quality and order lot. Timely delivery also remains a key issue for the Japanese market. Farrukh Shaikh presented a brief on the current leather situation in Pakistan. Tariq Iqbal Puri gave an overview of Pakistani horticulture and recommended Japan to import the world class Kinno and Mango grown in Pakistan. Joint Dialogue 2012 ended with the hope of continues co-operation with each other to improve the economic relations between the both countries.