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KARACHI: Scotland’s Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Christina McKelvie, has expressed her government’s commitment to promote bilateral trade, business linkages, investments, joint ventures and cultural exchanges with Pakistan, a statement said on Saturday.

Muhammad Suleman Chawla, acting President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), said a high-profile delegation of FPCCI’s Pak – UK Business Council (PUKBC) is visiting Scotland in coordination with Scottish Chamber of Commerce (SCC), which has arranged various meetings and visits for the Pakistani businessmen.
McKelvie said that Scotland will facilitate the business communities of both countries to enhance the volume of bilateral trade through full-fledged support to SCC and FPCCI.
Chawla said that FPCCI is looking forward to Scottish investment and cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure development, renewable energy, water resource management, financial services, food and beverages, healthcare services and retailing ventures.
He said that this visit is a follow-up to the Trade Cooperation Memorandum signed between SCC and FPCCI in September 2022 and the delegation is led by Imran Khalil Naseer, Chairman of FPCCI’s PUKBC.
“The real test of success for Bilateral Trade MOUs lies in the follow-up activities and FPCCI has obtained the support of Scottish Minister for International Development and her government in this regard,” Chawla said.
He added that Pakistan can help Scotland reduce their cost of doing business by providing skilled, abundant and cheap workforce, business process outsourcing and facilitation with sourcing competitive products and services.
Dr. Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of SCC, expressed her satisfaction that the Scottish government has extended their support to Pakistani businessmen to achieve the objectives of the MOU between the two counterpart chambers.
Naseer emphasized that Pakistan is a developing market with a young population of 64 percent; the country has successfully revived its IMF program; China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects have gained momentum; Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been set up to enable investors, entrepreneurs and business groups to take up mega projects in IT, agriculture, defense production, power and energy and tourism development.
“These developments have paved the way for enhanced cooperation in trade, industry and investments into Pakistan,” he said.
FPCCI’s PUKBC also facilitated Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) with their visit to SCC and created necessary linkages with the Scottish business community to enable their Pakistani counterparts to increase the country’s exports to Scotland. Dr. Jeanette Forbes, SCC’s Ambassador for Pakistan; Shafiq Shahzad, Trade and Investment Minister at Pakistan High Commission in UK and Muhammad Akhtar, Trade and Investment Attaché for Scotland and North of England, also attended the event.

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