ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Ethiopia to Pakistan Jemal Beker Abdula on Friday called upon the Pakistani businessmen to enhance their presence in the Ethiopian markets for exploring untapped land of Africa.
While addressing the business community during his visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), he said, “Ethiopia has strong economic ties with Turkiye and United Arab Emirates and it wants similar relations with Pakistan.”
He further said, “Many Pakistani products including textiles, pharmaceuticals, and cement have great potential in Ethiopia and the business community of Pakistan capitalize on this potential for exports.”
Jemal Beker Abdula termed the visit of the Pakistani business delegation to Ethiopia as Hijra Trade, which was very successful. He said that after the visit of the Pakistani delegation to Ethiopia, he received calls from many African countries including Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya who showed interest in trade with Pakistan.
He said, “Africa is endowed with great natural resources and the close cooperation of Pakistan with Ethiopia would help it get better penetration in the African region for trade and exports.”
He said, “A high-level delegation of Ethiopia is likely to visit Pakistan in the near future which will further strengthen trade ties between the two countries.”
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI urged Pakistan and Ethiopia to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) that would remove trade barriers and boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and Ethiopia.
He urged the Ambassador to take up the PTA matter with Pakistan authorities and assured that ICCI would extend all possible cooperation in such efforts.
He thanked the Ambassador and the Ethiopian authorities for giving warm reception and great hospitality to the ICCI delegation during its very successful visit to Addis Ababa from March 5-11.
Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President (VP) ICCI said, “Africa is very important for Pakistan and the Pakistani private sector will like to develop strong business linkages with Ethiopian counterparts to get better access to the African market for business and investment.”