Karachi (PR): Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has apprised that the apex body has signed a significant MoU with Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Russia’s largest republic, i.e. Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) – aimed at forging people-to-people; business-to-business; chamber-to-chamber and government-to-government dimensions of trade, industry and economic cooperation with a very significant part of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh explained that Republic of Sakha is very rich in natural resources; including, oil, gas, coal, industrially-important metals; precious stones and numerous other minerals. That’s the reason that they have developed world-class expertise, resources and capabilities in mining and extraction; and, Pakistan, being another natural resource-rich country, has a lot to gain from cooperation with Sakha Chamber.
It is pertinent to note that Mr. Umar Masood Ur Rehman, VP FPCCI, signed the MoU from Pakistani side; and, invited business community of the Republic of Sakha to visit Pakistan for exploring the abundant avenues for investments, joint ventures, industrial collaborations, mining projects and trade promotion activities.
Mr. Umar Masood Ur Rehman highlighted the fact that the economic and diplomatic relations between Russia and Pakistan are on an upward trajectory – both bilaterally and under the umbrella of pivotal multilateral forums like Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Mr. Umar Masood Ur Rehman also pointed out that Republic of Sakha is actively pursuing economic relations with Pakistan’s neighboring countries and economic powerhouses like China, India and Iran. Therefore, it is extremely important for FPCCI to establish working relationship with the Sakha Chamber; and, also demanded that the government of Pakistan should facilitate B2B networking with various parts of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Rehman added that crude oil imports; modernizing steel production facilities in Pakistan; natural resource extraction capabilities; setting up banking channels and rapid export growth should top the list of government’s priorities vis-à-vis inter-governmental relations with Russia.
Brig Iftikhar Opel, SI (M), Retd.
Secretary General