Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ireland should be increased to fully capitalize on the opportunities available with both countries, said President Dr Arif Alvi while meeting with the Ambassador-designate to Ireland Aisha Farooqui.

Highlighting the youth bulge of Pakistan, he said that both countries can benefit from bilateral trade in information technology and online earning opportunities. The youth of Pakistan can get remote employment from companies in Europe which are shifting their headquarters to Ireland.

“Ireland is being called as the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe.’ Pakistani embassy in Ireland should work to engage their counterparts there for enhanced bilateral trade and cooperation,” he said.

“Many steps,” he said, “can be taken from increasing the flow of investment to Pakistan, creating online job opportunities for the IT-skilled youth of Pakistan, increasing parliamentary exchanges, cementing people-to-people contacts, to seeking better cooperation in agriculture and livestock.”

“Quantum computing is the technological breakthrough which is going to have significant reverberations across the world in future. We need to collaborate with Irish companies for joint research programs in quantum computing which is way faster that super-computers. Quantum computers will solve complex problems in a matter of hours which super-computers take years to decode,” he added.

He considered the support of Ireland very essential in the ongoing Fourth Biennial Review of GSP Plus and launching of the new GSP Scheme post-2023. “We actively need to engage with Ireland on these matters,” he said.

He expressed his gratification on the opening of the resident Embassy in Islamabad in October, 2022, by the Irish government. “This is a welcome step which will enable us to enhance our bilateral cooperation,” he continued.

The president also said that there are over 25,000 Pakistani diasporas in Ireland, which include Pakistani students, doctors, lawyers and other professionals. “Higher education is an important area of bilateral cooperation. We need to make efforts to enhance cooperation in technical education and Irish scholarships for Pakistani students to study in the Irish universities,” he said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk