NZ envoy pushes B2B links

Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb held a meeting with David Pine, High Commissioner-designate of New Zealand to Pakistan, who called on the minister along with Avanthi Kalansooriya, Policy and Public Affairs Adviser, New Zealand High Commission, and Moin M Fudda, Honorary Consul General of New Zealand for Pakistan, to discuss bilateral relations, trade, investment and avenues for strengthening economic cooperation.

Pine mentioned Pakistan's successful return to international capital markets through the recent Eurobond issuance and appreciated the progress made towards macroeconomic stability and economic reforms. He also pointed to New Zealand's approach to strengthen its engagement with Pakistan and the wider South Asian region.

The finance minister highlighted Pakistan's progress in achieving macroeconomic stability and emphasised that focus "is now on sustaining the reform momentum while moving towards investment, exports, employment generation and sustainable economic growth". He noted that policy continuity, fiscal discipline and structural reforms would remain critical to maintaining the trajectory.

The discussion focused on strengthening business-to-business (B2B) engagement between Pakistan and New Zealand. Pine underscored the importance of encouraging businesses from both countries to establish direct linkages and identify areas of practical commercial interest. He also shared New Zealand's interest in promoting more regular trade discussions to identify and address related challenges.

The finance minister underscored that private-sector engagement should lead the way in expanding commercial relations, with the government facilitating the necessary ecosystem. He noted that formal trade agreements could accelerate the existing business activity, while sustained business linkages were essential for laying the foundation for stronger trade and investment flows.

The discussion also covered the large number of Pakistani scholars and students in New Zealand, particularly in agriculture-related fields. Aurangzeb emphasised the importance of strengthening the connectivity between such educational opportunities and practical outcomes in Pakistan, including through the return of trained professionals and greater application of their knowledge and expertise. He also outlined the potential to leverage technology and innovation to further support economic development and cooperation.