Belgians reluctant to invest: Ambassador

Diplomat asks for building positive image of country.

FAISALABAD:

Belgian Ambassador Hans Christian Kint has said that Pakistani exporters have the potential to export more goods to Belgium, the fifth largest buyer of Pakistani products in the European Union.

Addressing industrialists, exporters and members of the local chamber of commerce and industry on Monday, he said that although Pakistan has huge investment potential, but due to terrorism, foreign investors, particularly Belgian investors, were reluctant to invest money in the country.

He said that not a single Belgian company was in Pakistan because of security problems, adding that Pakistan’s government should portray the soft and positive image of the country.

“It is the prime responsibility of the Pakistani government to build a positive image,” he said and pointed out that investors always kept themselves away from investing in countries where they sensed any threat or insecurity.

He said that the Pakistani High Commission in Brussels should take measures to promote the country’s products. According to him, the Pakistan-Belgium Business Forum had been operating since 1997 and was playing a vital role in enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries.

He said that Pakistan exported about 72 per cent of textile products and about nine per cent of food products to Belgium last year while Belgium exported 70 per cent of chemical products and machinery and parts to Pakistan.

Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Ad hoc Management Committee Chairman Muhammad Naseer said that since Pakistan was facing an energy crisis and scarcity of water resources, the Belgium government and investors should launch joint venture projects in power generation and water conservation.





Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2011.