IDC team to attract Italian investment to Pakistan

Saturday, January 09, 2010
KARACHI: Italian Development Council (IDC) is taking a delegation to Italy from January 15 to 25 to attract Italian investment in Pakistan.

This was disclosed by IDC President Tariq Ikram while talking to media along with BoI Chairman Saleem H Mandviwalla here on Friday. He termed it a groundbreaking event which would set the stage for a larger delegation of leading Pakistani businessmen to visit Italy later this year.

The delegation, having representative of BoI and the Managing Director Punjab Small Industrial Corporation, besides its own members, would hold meetings with large business houses and Italian chambers of commerce and industry, he added.

BoI Chairman said the Italian Prime Minister had agreed with President Asif Ali Zardari during his last year’s visit to Italy that his country would provide a credit line of 10 billion Euros for Italian entrepreneurs willing to invest in Pakistan.

Italian businessmen would be motivated by this visit to use this credit line and have joint ventures with Pakistani businessmen in Pakistan, he added.

Mandviwalla pointed out that Italian Minister for Economic Affairs was expected to visit Pakistan this month to have talks on the credit line as he was abroad during the visit of President Zardari to Italy. After his visit, the Pakistani side would visit Italy to further negotiations on this issue, he noted. Tariq Ikram said the IDC was a brainchild of BoI chairman and the Italian Ambassador in Pakistan to promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

The areas of discussion with Italian entrepreneurs would include mining and finishing of marble, minerals, coal, and pharmaceutical etc. During the ten-day stay in Italy, the delegation would visit five major industrial cities including Milan, Bergamo, Padova, Pudine and Rome, he added.

The IDC president said the purpose of the delegation was to improve the image of Pakistan in Italy and dispel a negative impression among Italian entrepreneurs about the business environment in Pakistan.

He said Italian pharmaceutical companies were keen to develop a manufacturing base in Pakistan as the cost of production was very high in Italy.