PBIT-led business mission going Italy

LAHORE: Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) in collaboration with Italian Pakistan Business Association (IPBA) is leading a delegation of businessmen from various chambers of commerce & industry (CC&Is) in Punjab comprising RY Khan, Faisalabad and Multan CC&Is to Italy from October 24 to 28.

In this context, Italy's Ambassador to Pakistan Mr Vincenzo Prati visited PBIT office and held talks with the member delegates on various aspects of their outreach strategy along with the PBIT's team here on Saturday. Italian Ambassador to Pakistan also reflected deeply upon Italy’s burgeoning interest in trade with Pakistan.

Vincenzo Prati said, "I am sure that the meetings will help establish a number of good contacts between the Pakistani and Italian institutions, while granting at the same time opportunities for those companies of both countries willing to expand their business abroad."

During the meeting, it transpired that the Italian Ambassador attached great importance to modest beginning and informed that he has written a letter to President Milan chamber and requested PBIT to write a letter in continuation of it to Milan Chamber. He said that during his call on Punjab Chief Minister, he had invited him (CM) for a visit to Italy with business delegation; therefore, PBIT should utilize this opportunity to do groundwork for the CM visit.

The PBIT initiative is aligned with the Punjab government's outlook to reach out and help smaller chambers/businesses and districts and put them visibly on the overall economic map.

The five-day visit is sponsored by the participating chambers hence bears no financial liability on the government for neither the delegates nor the PBIT team. It is expected that the visit shall result in conclusion of new Pak-Italian Joint Venture-units set-up in food production and that the visiting businessmen shall return equipped with knowledge of best practices for replication in their procedures and sizeable export interest will be generated among the Italian businesses for Pakistani products. The visit is likely to result in an incremental improvement of image of Pakistan.

The profiles of the interested delegates from various chambers reflect that they have strong financial; however they lack the direction to channelize their assets in the best way to expand their existing setups and venture into new setups altogether. Most delegates expressed interest in purchase of machinery either for replacing their old ones in textiles, food processing or leather. Other businessmen want to explore the market to find suitable partners to sell their products to
or seek out JV partners.

Italy is a best partner for such businessmen as it can cater to their needs. In the past, textile machinery has been imported by Pakistan from Italy in a large number and to date our major imports from Italy remain the machinery for various industries.

The industrial parks initiatives of government (Industrial estates; an agriculture industrial park in RY Khan, a citrus park in Bhalwal, Halal park in Faisalabad) need to be colonized and it is such businessmen that will do so, provided they are set up with the correct business counterpart. Hence this trip is essentially geared towards effective match making that will reap concrete results with as soon as seven months from the conclusion of the trip.

Whilst in Italy PBIT intends to take the agenda a step ahead and develop critical contacts in the leather, marble and textiles sectors in Italy. Pakistan and Italy can complement each other in these sectors, as Pakistan has a plenty of raw material in these sectors that can get value addition through Italian expertise in these sectors. Pakistan lacks the value addition capacity in terms of machinery, new technology and branding, all that Italy can provide.

In this regard, the ideal opportunity would be a bilateral arrangement whereby Italy provides machinery, technology and branding and takes the re-payment in finished goods. (APP)