President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari Wednesday called for promoting Pakistan's trade with African countries, which will boost exports and help improve the economy. He expressed these views while talking to Pakistan's Ambassador-designate to Senegal Saima Sayed during her visit to ICCI, says a statement received by WealthPK.

Ahsan said Pakistan has the potential to promote billions of dollars of exports with African countries, including Senegal, for which it is important that the private sector should be helped in getting better access to the African region. He said the current era was one of trade diplomacy and urged Pakistani diplomats to play their role in promoting trade and involvement with these countries.

Ahsan said trade between Pakistan and Senegal was far below the actual potential and urged the embassy to cooperate in enhancing trade and exports with Senegal. He said a delegation of ICCI will visit Ethiopia in March this year and suggested that the embassy should consider cooperating with the chamber in organizing a business opportunities conference in Senegal to connect the private sectors of both countries with each other, which would help identify new areas of business promotion between the two countries.

He expressed his best wishes for Saima Sayed on her new assignment and hoped that she will play an active role in increasing trade and economic ties between the two countries. Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President of ICCI, said Senegal could be an attractive market for Pakistan and suggested that a display centre should be set up in the embassy to display Pakistani products, which would help promote their exports to Senegal.

Speaking on the occasion, Saima Sayed said she will cooperate with the business community in improving business relations with Senegal. She said Senegal is an important country in West Africa, so by establishing close cooperation with it, Pakistan could gain better access to the West African market.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk