ISLAMABAD: A large delegation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will visit Pakistan next month to explore the possibilities of establishing joint ventures and increasing trade between the countries.
"The delegation will arrive on May 23 and leave on the 29th," a spokesman for the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), which has invited the delegation, told IANS.
FICCI President Onkar S. Kanwar will lead the delegation, which will consist of leading businessmen and industrialists.
The delegation will meet business leaders in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.
The delegation's visit is being viewed as an immediate follow up to President Pervez Musharraf's discussions during his visit to India last week. The joint statement issued after the visit had specifically mentioned the need for promoting India-Pakistan socio-economic relations, among other things.
Four decisions on the economic front were taken after talks between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. These were: creation of a Joint Economic Commission, reviving the Joint Business Council, a meeting of the petroleum ministers to carry forward proposals for trans-national gas pipeline from Iran and Central Asia, and to permit trade through road transport.
"The visit of the Indian delegation will open new avenues for promotion of bilateral trade and accelerate the process of building up economic relations between the two countries," said Abdul Waheed Jan, chief of the Islamabad Stock Exchange. He had visited India last month to explore the possibilities of trading in each other's stock markets.
The Indian delegation will include representatives from a broad spectrum of industries. These include tyres, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and paints, hospitality, tourism, amusement park equipment, processed food products and packaged drinks, herbal extracts and cosmetics, areca-nut and betel-nut, coated/uncoated paper and writing paper, textiles, fibre, cotton and yarn, engineering equipment, electrical equipments and food equipment, cable wire and steel processing plants. |
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