German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas has said that Pakistan needs to focus on diversification to enhance its exports across the world, especially to Germany. There was a great potential for mutual trade between the two countries by exploring new sectors, he said speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI). Ambassador Grannas said that quality was the speciality of German products as the German companies do not compromise on quality. Therefore, Germans also expect the same standard of quality for imports. He said that both the countries were best partners and Pakistan could benefit from German expertise in various sectors. There was a need to strengthen business-to-business contacts between the business community of Pakistan and Germany, he said and added, Germany was keen to establish close contacts between the chambers of commerce and industry.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir told the meeting that Pakistan and Germany enjoyed cordial diplomatic relations and were steady trading partners. Germany was one of the few trillion economies in the world and “we are glad to have trade and investment relations with it.” He said that Germany was the biggest trading partner of Pakistan in the European Union (EU). Regarding the top importing and exporting destinations of Pakistan in the EU, Germany was in the first place, he added. Mian Nauman said that it was encouraging that Pakistan maintained a favourable balance of trade with Germany for the last few years and at present both the imports and exports were showing an increasing trend.

He said that according to the International Trade Centre’s Trade Map, Pakistan’s exports to Germany increased to $1.6 billion in 2021 from $1.4 billion in 2020. Similarly, the imports from Germany also went up to $1.02 billion from $857 million during that period. That resulted in taking the overall trade level to 2.58 billion dollars in 2021 from 2.25 billion dollars in 2020.  The LCCI president said that Pakistan’s exports to Germany were heavily dominated by textiles while other exports included leather articles, footwear, rice, etc. The imports from Germany consisted of machinery, pharmaceutical products, chemicals, surgical instruments, plastic articles, iron & steel, etc. “We from the platform of LCCI will be glad to get engaged with diplomats from the German Embassy for the purpose of further strengthening the mutual relations between the two countries.”

He said that Pakistan would welcome German investors and Pakistani businessmen were also interested to be partners with them in the transfer of technology and joint ventures, especially in automobiles, renewable energy, tourism and pharmaceuticals. The LCCI President mentioned the efforts made by some German organizations like GIZ and GTZ particularly in the field of technical and vocational trainings in Pakistan. He said Germany had the largest economy in the EU with a gross domestic product of over 4.2 trillion dollars and in terms of the area it was the 7^th largest country in Europe.  Mian Nauman said that globally famous brand names like Volkswagen, Allianz, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, SAP, Bosch and Siemens, etc., gave exceptional distinction to Germany.

He said that Germany was one of the most densely populated European countries yet its one-third area was still covered with forests and woodlands. He said that the first book was printed in German and the first magazine was launched in Germany in 1663. Consequently, Germany was one of the world’s leading nations publishing more than 94,000 book titles every year. Germany was also the world’s first country to adopt daylight saving time practices. Moreover, it was one of the largest solar power producers in the world, he added. Germany, he said, had made tremendous development in the education sector as it was the 5^th most popular country for international students. There were around 400 universities in Germany that delivered over 17,000 study programmes.

Nauman said that these facts described Germany as being a historically and culturally rich country that had great standing among the technologically advanced countries in the world.  Speaking on the occasion, LCCI Vice President Haris Attique said that Pakistan gave great weightage to the GSP Plus status and was striving to ensure compliance with the conventions. German Embassy could play a crucial role in strengthening the business-to-business contacts among the business community on both sides, he added. He said that Pakistan was introducing a long-term policy on renewable energy so German investors should invest in that sector.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk