Doing Business in Pakistan Conference

 

London: Doing Business in Pakistan conference was jointly organized by the UK department of Trade & Investment and the Pakistan High Commission in London at Lancaster House on 10 February 2011.  The event was co-chaired by Lord Stephen Green the Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment and Mr. Salim H. Mandviwalla, Chairman, Board of Investment, Pakistan.  Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment Lord Stephen Green in his address said that Pakistan offers significant business opportunities for UK businesses and will be one of the world’s drivers of growth. High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan and British High Commissioner to Pakistan Adam Thomson also addressed the conference and chalked out plans for attracting more British businesses to invest in Pakistan.

 

Delegates were given an insight on economic policies, business opportunities across the sectors including Oil & Gas, Power, Agriculture, Banking, Railways, Mining and etc. There were over 80 business representatives from various sectors i.e. banking, retail, media, engineering, and education from the UK who attended the conference.  Companies who attended the event included Deutsche Bank AG, Standard Chartered, HSBC, EDF Trading, DAI Europe, BLME, Range Rover, The Royal Mint, KGN security Ltd, AL Halabi, AKD securities, JCB, Best Way, MDUK media, Heath Lambert, Toni & Guy and etc

 

Mr Saleem Mandiwala, Chairman Board of Investment speaking on the bilateral trade with the United Kingdom said trade is already worth more than £1 billion annually and he aims to increase the trade to £2 billion in the next 5 years. He urged British companies to take advantage of the Government’s liberal investment policies and make further investments in Pakistan.

 

The conference also hosted three breakout sessions:

 

Aid Funded Business: The objective of which was to encourage UK businesses to participate in pot flood rehabilitation work in Pakistan through funds allocated by World Bank, and the DFID by bidding for the development projects.

 

Pakistan Rising: How to unlock opportunities, broad investment themes, success stories and tips on regulatory environment

 

Support from the UK department of Trade & Industry and the Pakistan High Commission, London for the UK companies for doing business in Pakistan

 

 

London

February 16, 2011