ISLAMABAD: Russia invited Pakistani business community to participate inthe Expo 2025 that will be held in the Ekaterinburg city of Russia .
A delegation of Russian Federation led by Alexander G. Visokinskiy, DeputyGovernor of the Sverdlovsk Region visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce &Industry on Wednesday.
Ekaterinburg is the geographical centre of the Russian Federation and theCapital of the Urals, one of the largest commercial, scientific andindustrial cosmopolitan centres.
Ekaterinburg has the well-developed infrastructure, modern transportsystem, technoparks and other facilities.Speaking at the occasion,Alexander G. Visokinskiy said that Russia never hosted an Expo before andfor the first time, it was going to organize World Expo 2025 designed as aSmart City that would live on after the event.
He said more than 140 countries will participate in the Expo that would bethe largest international event covering an area of 555 hectares. He saidthe Expo would provide a good platform for demonstration of technical,technological, industrial, cultural and social achievements.
He said the Expo would provide Pakistani business community with a goodopportunity to demonstrate their good quality products and enhance theirbusiness prospect. They would also be able to hold business negotiationsand strengthen cooperation with international participants.
Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamberof Commerce & Industry said that Pakistan and Russia enjoyed goodrelations, but given the size of the economies of both countries, theirbilateral trade of less than $500 million was not encouraging.
He said both countries were doing trade in limited items and they shouldfocus on diversification of trade to achieve mutually beneficial results.
He said Russia has good expertise in energy, engineering and other sectorsand it could help Pakistan in many fields of economy.
He said both countries have also good potential to develop strong defencecooperation. He said Pakistan could provide Russia better market access toSouth Asia, Middle East, Africa and other countries. Similarly, Pakistancould achieve better market access to Central Asia through Russia. Thustheir close cooperation would mutually benefit for them.