Pakistan and UAE have great potential to further improve bilateral trade and UAE wanted to work on a new economic roadmap with Pakistan to take bilateral trade and economic relations to higher levels. This was stated by Ambassador of UAE to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Alzaabi, while exchanging views with Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The Ambassador visited ICCI on Wednesday and exchanged views to explore trade opportunities between both the countries. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President and Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI were also present at the occasion. The UAE ambassador said that he visited Faisalabad and Sialkot and saw that Pakistan has great potential to export many products to UAE.
He urged that Pakistani manufacturers to do proper marketing of their exportable products to boost exports up to their actual potential. He said that Pakistani meat products were going to Jordan and other countries from UAE, which showed that Pakistan could make a significant increase in its exports by getting better penetration in the UAE market. He said that UAE-India bilateral trade was around $75 billion, but UAE-Pakistan bilateral trade was around $14 billion, which was quite less than the actual potential of both countries and more efforts were needed to enhance it. He said that Pakistan should improve its legal framework and formulate more business friendly policies to attract more FDI from UAE. He said that ICCI should form a delegation for UAE and he would cooperate in connecting them with right counterparts in his country. Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the UAE has always stood with Pakistan and provided crucial support to it in times of need that was appreciable.