Pakistan-Japan Talks on Textile City likely to top agenda
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

KARACHI: Discussions on the Textile City are likely to top the agenda at the joint business and investment conference of Pakistan and Japan starting here on Monday, official sources said on Saturday.

The Third Pakistan Japan Joint Business dialogue will be participated by a 30-member Japanese delegation.

The Japanese group, led by Parliamentary Secretary, Akihiko Yamamoto, will comprise government officials, representatives of METI, JETRO and JBIC and Chairman Japan-Pakistan Business Cooperation Committee, Tohoru Tsuji, who is also the chairman of one of Japan’s largest companies Marubeni Corporation.

Other issues to be deliberated upon include how to motivate Japanese investment in Pakistan besides automobile sector, which is showing unprecedented growth, irritants like delay in issuance of visas, bilateral trade which is on a continuous decline, capacity building of Pakistani manufacturers through human resource development and technical training, Japan’s assistance in infrastructure development, no progress in the Textile City initiated by PJBF/JETRO jointly, double taxation treaty, revitalisation of Karachi Development Programme, improvement in quality of agricultural produce like cotton and progress on intellectual property rights.

The business meeting would also be addressed by Federal Minister for Communications, Shamim Siddiqui and Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Ishrat Hussain. Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Nobuiki Tanaka, would make a special address.

The Japanese team accompanied by office-bearers of Pakistan-Japan Business Forum, led by its President Farrukh H Sheikh, will then proceed to Islamabad for meetings with President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, tentatively scheduled for March 8 and 10 respectively.

Commerce Minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Minister of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, Jehangir Tareen and State Minister of Investment and Privatisation, Umer Ghumman will hold a joint govt-to-govt and private sector business meeting in Islamabad on March-9, which would include private sector industry leaders from both Japan and Pakistan.●