Canada and Pakistan can Work Together to Promote Trade between the two Countries   

Toronto, Monday, March 8, 2012:  Pakistan has launched its National Mineral Policy 2013 which focuses on Institutional capacity building and clarity of Fiscal and Regulatory regimes in International competitiveness.  Making the announcement, the Canada Pakistan Chamber of Commerce (CPCoC) said the National Mineral Policy was approved by the Cabinet and ratified last week.

“We initiated a Mining Working Group in Pakistan,” says Mehreen Javaid, president of CPCoC.  “I am grateful to the Canadian High Commission for assisting us by hosting working group sessions in Islamabad with participation from all provinces that, along with the Federal Government, came on the same table to discuss the policy framework.”

Facilitated by the Chamber, the policy framework was made in consultation with the World Bank.

“We invited Michael Stanley from World Bank to engage with government officials on policy matters and also capacity building. Since then World Bank has hosted two workshops on capacity building In Islamabad. A report was also prepared in consultation with all the Stakeholders,” says Javaid.

Meanwhile, a strong platform to promote trade and commerce between Canada and Pakistan is being constructed with a mandate to foster ties, establish bilateral relations and more engagement. With this in mind, a large and high powered mining delegation converged from Pakistan at the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) that took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in downtown Toronto March 3 – 6, 2013.

Facilitated by the CPCoC, the mandate of the delegation was to initiate a holistic dialogue on ongoing trade opportunities with particular focus on minerals and iron ore between the two countries. 

“Two way trade between the two countries is close to the $1 billion mark with substantial potential for growth provided there is more engagement of private and public sectors,” states Javaid. “The two countries have also successfully completed two rounds of bi-lateral investment promotion agreement negotiations.”

Launched on March 7, 2012, with the support of the Canadian High Commission, the Government of Pakistan and the private sector, the CPCoC brought its first ever mining delegation to Canada last year to the world’s largest Mining Convention that draws over 30,000 delegates from all over the world to Toronto

“In the past one year we have made numerous efforts to facilitate investors in an open transparent environment respecting the laws and the constitution of Pakistan,” says Javaid.  “There is a tremendous potential for our two countries to discover prospects and merge strengths collectively in several areas,” says Javaid.  “Our aim was to bring government leaders, stakeholders and business leaders to Canada to showcase Pakistan’s strengths so that both countries can mutually benefit from deeper trade and investment ties.”

The CPCoC will continue its efforts in its second year expanding its network and creating more working groups in other sectors.

List of 2013 Pakistan Delegates:

Naeem Malik, Additional secretary

For more information, visit www.canadapakistan.org

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