President Dr Arif Alvi has underlined the need to substantially increase the volume of trade with Hungary from its existing level of $50 million to $150 million to help realize the full potential of bilateral trade, business and investment.

The president said this while talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Hungary, Asif Hussain Memon, who called on him at the President House.

He highlighted the need to create linkages between the private sectors of Hungary and Pakistan for forging possible joint ventures in the fields of agriculture, vertical farming, robotics, information technology, water management, flood water management, crop insurance and development of high-yielding seeds.

President Alvi expressed the hope that the economic experts of the two countries will collectively find practical ways to implement planned initiatives in the next session of the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.

The president advised the envoy designate to engage the Hungarian Oil and Gas Company, which has a sizable investment in Pakistan, and encourage it to extend its operations to renewable energy as well. Underlining the areas of further bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the president said that there was great potential for cooperation with Hungary in water resources management, agriculture, food, education, the information technology sector and the higher education sector.

He also emphasized the need for the full utilization of scholarships offered by the government of Hungary to Pakistani students and asked the ambassador-designate to coordinate with the Higher Education Commission to finalize the memorandum of understanding for the scholarship programme on a top priority basis.

He appreciated that the government of Hungary is likely to increase the award of the current 200 scholarships to 400 in the near future, and said it should be fully utilized.

He said that a mechanism should be established to attract Pakistani human resources educated and trained in Hungary back to Pakistan. This will ensure the utilization of their acquired knowledge and training in critical fields for bringing improvement to Pakistan’s economy.

The president also appreciated the support of the government of Hungary for GSP+ status to Pakistan. He stated that there is a need to ensure Hungary’s continuous support for the renewal of GSP+ status to Pakistan.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk