Italy wants to start a new era of economic cooperation with Pakistan: Italian envoy

Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese has declared his country’s intention to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Pakistan, as he explained on Wednesday that there are vast opportunities for mutual trade that both nations can benefit from. 

As reported by Global Village Space, the envoy spoke highly of the Pakistani business community and the work it has undertaken to promote mutual trade and economic activity in Italy. 

The Ambassador informed that Italy currently hosts the largest Pakistani diaspora amongst all the European Union (EU) countries. Moreover, workers’ remittances from the European nation exceeded $600 million in FY 2020-21, which is an all-time high. 

This milestone has made Italy Pakistan’s seventh-largest destination for workers’ remittances globally. 

Mr. Ferrarese highlighted the massive potential that lay within different sectors of the economy that needed to be explored. In this regard, the Pak-Italy Joint Economic Commission played an important role in advancing bilateral economic agreements and discussions. 

He said the green economy, transfer of technology for the industrial sector including textiles and agri-industry, construction sector, education, and health are major areas of focus to extend the bilateral cooperation. 

The ambassador said through the green economy, Italy wanted to cooperate with Pakistan for environment protection, circular economy, resource-saving and management, ecosystem protection and recovery, water conservation, and natural disaster prevention. 

The Ambassador said that Italy has established the Italy-Pakistan Textile Technology Center (IPTTC) in Faisalabad at the National Textile University (NTU) to upgrade the local textile sector. 

The Italian envoy was of the view that his country wanted to initiate a new era of economic and trade cooperation with Pakistan via the transfer of technology. 

Among the participants in this discussion were former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce Zafar Bakhtawri, Chairman Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Capital Office Qurban Ali, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Muhammad Nasir Mirza, President Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry Umer Ashraf Mughal, President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sherbaz Ilyas Bilour, and Abdullah Shad Abbasi.