Spanish companies keen to work in resourceful Pakistan

Envoy calls for taking advantage of each other’s expertise

LAHORE: Spanish Ambassador to Pakistan Carlos Morales has termed Pakistan a resourceful country and stated that a number of Spanish companies are keen on starting their operations here.

Morales said this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday. LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder was present along with other members.

Regional trade: Pak-Iran border being upgraded

The ambassador said Pakistan had a lot to offer foreign investors. “Spain is one of the largest economies and investors in the world; it has made huge investments around the globe while around 5,000 Spanish companies are working in Latin America,” he said.

Calling Pakistan a big market for European Union investors, he said Spanish companies were diverting their attention towards Pakistan and both countries should take advantage of each other’s expertise.

He asked the LCCI to take a business delegation to Spain so the Pakistani business community could assess the situation.

“There exists a great scope for cooperation in various industrial sectors, therefore, the businessmen of both sides could join hands for the transfer of technology.”

Morales especially cited the tourism industry, saying Pakistan could learn a lot from Spain as last year alone the country earned $65 billion from 68 million tourists.



Hyder acknowledged that Pakistan and Spain had always enjoyed good diplomatic relations and had also been steady trading partners, which was evident from the increasing bilateral trade for the last few years. In 2014, the level of trade went up to $937 million.

Hyder also saw great scope of cooperation in industrial sectors between Pakistan and Spain. “The possibility of undertaking joint ventures in areas like pharmaceuticals, electrical appliances, food items and power generation is very bright.”

He pointed out that Spain was renowned for its technology used in constructing dams and had built water reservoirs in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. “Spanish businessmen must invest in joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs for the transfer of technology.”

He suggested that seed development was an area where Spain had expertise and could assist Pakistan as it was primarily an agricultural economy.

“Pakistan is an agro-based economy but unfortunately it does not have technology to preserve excess agriculture produce and in this regard, professional expertise of Spain will be welcome.”

He called for more interaction between business communities of the two countries to increase the volume of two-way trade and stressed that it was necessary that business houses like the LCCI and its counterparts in Spain also played their due role.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.