Diplomatic support sought to boost B2B connectivity

LCCI urges deeper links between business community & foreign missions

LAHORE:

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Faheem Ur Rehman Saigol has called for stronger cooperation between Pakistan's business community and diplomatic missions to promote trade, attract investment and build business-to-business linkages.

Speaking at the LCCI Ambassadors' Dinner 2026, Saigol said embassies and their commercial sections helped Pakistani businesses find new markets, identify reliable partners and gain confidence to invest abroad. He praised them for arranging business meetings, sharing trade information and connecting local firms with companies in their countries. "This support is especially valuable for businesses entering unfamiliar markets."

Saigol said diplomacy had become even more important for business because companies needed peace, stability and predictable policies to grow. He hoped wisdom would prevail and tensions would ease.

He saw potential for cooperation in agriculture, textile, pharmaceuticals, information technology, renewable energy, logistics, mining, tourism and other sectors, and said that Pakistan's large population offered opportunities for international partnerships.

He also asked for more support for small and medium enterprises, saying they could offer quality products but needed guidance on global market requirements and quality standards. He stressed that the LCCI was ready to work with missions through regular meetings and sector-specific interactions and proposed follow-up mechanisms so that contacts made at such events could lead to practical business. Chief Guest Atadjan Movlamov, Turkmenistan's Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, said economic diplomacy had become an indispensable tool of international relations. He said goodwill should be turned into practical, high-impact economic cooperation, and the event's success should be judged by the business delegations, joint ventures and removal of trade barriers that would follow it.

Movlamov named trade facilitation, investment, renewable energy, agriculture, textile, IT and logistics as key areas. He said Pakistan's location could connect South Asia with Central Asia and the Middle East.

He described the TAPI gas pipeline as an example of regional cooperation and said work on it was progressing. He also referred to cooperation in power transmission and fibre-optic links, and said Turkmenistan saw Pakistan as an important maritime gateway.

German Ambassador Ina Lepel said the strongest themes were business-to-business linkages, trade and investment, private-sector cooperation, vocational and technical education, climate and sustainable development. She said Germany attached great importance to stronger economic cooperation with Pakistan and saw considerable potential to expand trade, investment and business links. Portugal Ambassador Paulo Domingues said his country was keen to strengthen economic and commercial ties with Pakistan through more trade, investment and private-sector linkages. He said there was significant potential in agriculture, IT, education and the blue economy. He stressed the importance of stronger institutional and business-to-business connections.