President stresses need to enhance trade ties with Africa
Business Thursday, June 3rd, 2010President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed upon the need to enhance trade relations with the African countries to realize their real potential keeping in view vast population of the African continent and the market opportunities available there.
The President said this during his interaction with ambassadors and high commissioners belonging to 11 African countries who had been invited to Aiwan-e-Sadr on Wednesday for a meeting to consider ways and means of further bolstering relations with their countries.
Those who attended the meeting, included Abdisalam Haji Ahmed Liban, Ambassador of Somalia, Mrs. Mishi Masika Mwatsahu, High Commissioner of Kenya, Magdy Mahmoud Helmy Amer, Ambassador of Egypt, Daniel Jabulani Mavimbela, High Commissioner of South Africa, Mohammed Rida El-Fassi, Ambassador of Morocco, Ahmed Benflis, Ambassador of Algeria, Mourad Bourehla, Ambassador of Tunis, Adamu Saidu Daura, High Commissioner of Nigeria, Mohammed Omer Musa, Ambassador of Sudan, Mohamed Al-Zaidi, Deputy Head of Mission of Libya and Bevjanlall Seetahul, Charge’ de affairs of Mauritius.
Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Secretary General M. Salman Faruqui, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Salim H. Mandviwala, Chairman BOI, Malik Asif Hayat, Secretary to the President, Lt. Gen. ® Syed Athar Ali, Secretary Defence, Salman Bashir Secretary Foreign Affairs and Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar were also present during the meeting.
The President during the meeting suggested creation of a small caucus representing the African embassies in Islamabad and relevant officers of the ministries for suggesting ways and means to move forward on further improving trade and commercial ties. The President said the African countries can greatly benefit from Pakistan’s experience and expertise in the fields of infrastructure development, agriculture, banking and information technology.
He said Pakistan’s education sector, particularly professional institutes provide excellent opportunities and venues to the students belonging to the African countries to learn modern sciences and arts and there is need to strengthen and enhance existing exchanges in this area. He said the African countries can also benefit from the facilities available at the professional training institutes in Pakistan that are imparting practical professional training not only in public sector organizations but also in banking, agriculture and other areas.
Media is another important area where Pakistan has made noticeable development in recent years to share knowledge and expertise with the African countries, he added.The President said the threat of extremism and militancy was endangering peace of the entire world and they needed to pool resources to neutralize this threat. He said that Pakistan condemned terrorism in all its manifestations and modes and joined the international community in fighting the menace.
The President highlighted the active participation of the Pakistan armed forces in peacekeeping activities in conflict zones and mentioned their participation in peacekeeping missions in Liberia, Republic of Chad, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan and Western Sahara. Pakistan is the second largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping in the world and at present 10,733 Pakistani troops are involved in peacekeeping missions in African countries, the President noted.
The President said Pakistan supports comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council to make it more representative, democratic, equitable, transparent and accountable to the general membership. He said Pakistan recognizes the African demand for equal rights and to redress historic injustices. He said Pakistan supports the African countries seeking to promote equal and non-discriminatory approach for all regional groups with regard to representation on the Security Council.
The Ambassadors and the High Commissioners thanked the President for meeting them and assured that they would continue working for enhancing and strengthening of the multifaceted bilateral relations of their respective countries with Pakistan.
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on Jun 3 2010. Filed under