Pakistan-Japan to set up Joint Study Group   
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-Japan business dialogue here on Tuesday decided to set up a Joint Study Group to promote business cooperation paving the way for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

"The two sides held indepth discussion to explore the ways and means to enhance economic activities between the two countries", said Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan at a press conference at the concluding of 3rd round of Pak-Japan Business Dialogue here today.

He said both the countries decided to hold further discussion during next round of dialogue to be held very soon.

Humayun Akhtar said "This is high time for Japan and Pakistan to initiate talks on Free Trade Agreement since this is the ideal channel for both countries to enhance mutually beneficial bilateral trade".

He said Pakistan had signed FTAs with many countries including China and Sri-Lanka and negotiations are underway with may other countries and these would be materialized with in next few months.

Due to successful trade diplomacy efforts, Pakistan provides immense opportunities to potential investors in Pakistan to set up industries here to target vast and growing market of our FTA partners, especially China, he added.

He added that although our bilateral trade, for the first time, touched the figure of around US $ 2 billion last year, it is still well below our potential.

He said that "We have to remove roadblocks and impediments which are presently hampering these relations", he added I believe we can develop consensus on a viable future strategy for taking the bilateral relations to the new heights".

The two sides were satisfied with the roadmap discussed here today which would help generate more economic activities in different fields of the both the countries, he added.

The low exports to Japan are decimal and needs proper attention of the stakeholders, the Commerce Minister said adding, there is a need for an upsurge in Japanese investment in Pakistan.

The bottlenecks should be identified and removed in this connection, he said and added, a result oriented approach be adopted so that common objectives are attained.

Emphasizing on more investment in Pakistan, Humayun Akhtar said, there had been lot of investment in Auto sector and now Japanese investors should now concentrate on the development of energy and infrastructure sectors.

Underscoring the need of enhancing exports to Japan, the Minister said, the existing quantum is very low which needed appropriate increase. Besides cooperation may be enhanced in IT and banking sector for the benefit of the both the countries.

Japanese Parliamentary Secretary for Economy, Trade and Industry Ms. Michiyo Takagi speaking on the occasion said the Pak-Japan business dialogue would prove very successful and this round would yield positive results on the economic cooperation between the two countries.

"There is a new thinking in Japan regarding Pakistan and it is hoped that more effective measures would be introduced to increase investments and trade between the two countries.

She said there is dire need to promote diversifications in the export products to improve the quality of products, to strengthen marketing strategies and above all to enhance human resources.●