“Pakistan – South Africa Trade and Investment Cooperation Seminar” 28th August, 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa

Pakistan High Commission, Pretoria and Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) jointly organized a landmark “Pakistan – South Trade and Investment Cooperation Seminar” on 28th August, 2018 at InvestSA One Stop Shop in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. This Seminar was also supported by the Pakistan-South Africa Business Forum (PSABF) and other Government Departments of South Africa. This was the first ever Seminar at this level organized in the history of bilateral relations between Pakistan and South Africa where a large delegation participated from Pakistan on the invitation of GGDA and Pakistan High Commission, and high profile participation from South African side was witnessed.

The eighteen (18) member delegation participating from Pakistan was led by the Mr Shakil Ahmed Shaikh, Additional Secretary, Agriculture, Supply & Prices Department, Government of Sindh. Other members of the delegation represented Agriculture Sector, ICT, Chemicals, OEM Supplier, Carpets Industry, Pharmaceuticals, Valves & Cylinder Manufacturer, Engineering Industry, Plastics, Metal Industry, Printing & Packaging and Trading. The participants from South African side comprised of executives of GGDA, officials from Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), officials from DTI, representations from the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), representations from Black Business Council (BBC), leading businesses from South Africa and Sector Specialists.

The Seminar was inaugurated by Mr Jameel Chand, CEO of GGDA and Dr. Sohail Khan, the High Commissioner of Pakistan in Pretoria. In his opening address, Dr. Khan highlighted the importance of events like this and expressed appreciation of the efforts put in by the GGDA and PSABF to make the event a success. He underscored the importance of people to people contact and business to business contact for increasing Trade and Investment Cooperation between Pakistan and South Africa.

The first part of the Seminar addressed the current Trade and Investment Cooperation between Pakistan and South Africa. It focused upon issues and challenges faced in bilateral trade and investment and discussed viable way forward to strengthen the economic relations between Pakistan and South Africa to drive economic growth in both countries. The detailed overview of the Trade and Investment opportunities in Pakistan was presented to the audience by Commercial Secretary Mr. Fahad Ali Chaudhary.

The second part of the Seminar consisted of three (03) Sector Sessions and Panel Discussions. These sector sessions were held in the field of ICT, Agriculture and Textile. Industry experts and leaders in these sectors in South Africa were the lead participants and panel members in these sessions along with members of Pakistani delegation as panel members.

A concluding session between the Commercial Secretary, official representatives from Pakistan and GGDA took place to discuss way forward to build upon the discussions of the Seminar. It was decided that a MoU for Cooperation between GGDA and Board of Investment (BOI) of Pakistan will be signed and both sides will fast track the process.

Pretoria
August 31, 2018