ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and Japan possess huge potential for expanding thebilateral trade and economic ties , ambassador of Japan to Pakistan,Kuninori Matsuda said.
Pakistan was major exporter to Japan Cotton including articles of appareledible fruits, oil seeds, Oleagis fruits, grain seeds, fruits, products ofanimal origin, salt, sulphur, stone, plaster, limeand cement , articles ofleather, animal gut, harness, Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda told APP here.
The Ambassador said that both sides have more potential to increasebilateral trade from current volume of trade and double the figure toexploit the resources.
He said Japan and Pakistan have enjoyed historical diplomatic and economicrelation, where Japan has always supported Pakistan in every situation.
Replying to a question, the ambassador said Pakistan and Japan are lookingfor increasing bilateral cooperation in agricultural-based industry andvalue addition as Japan has already announced grant aid to enhanceproductivity in relevant agricultural fields.
He said that Japan was also looking for enhancing the cooperation in autoparts industry for enhancing the capacity of local labor and providingemployment opportunities in Pakistan.
He said Japanese companies were interested to establish the industrialunits of auto parts in Pakistan for bringing investment to provideopportunity to the local people.
Replying to another question, he said that Japanese firms directly investedin the production in Pakistan and Suzuki of Japan is engaged in producingcars in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Suzuki has joint venture with Pakistan Automobile Corporation.He said Suzuki and Toyota cars are the popular vehicles in Pakistan,because it meets the local demand efficiently.
Recently Japan announced a grand aid of US $ 5.2 million to supportAgri-Food and Agro-Industry development in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand Balochistan provinces, he said.
The senior diplomat said this amount would be utilized for enhancement ofproductivity and capacities of relevant sectors in the cattle meat valuechain in districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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He said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was alreadyworking on potential agro-based region of Khyber Pakhtunkwa includingHazara, Swat and Chitral as in Gilgit Batistan for promoting innovation andvalue addition culture in these areas.
He said through JICA, the Japanese government was also working on coldstorage for the preservation apple, apricot and other perishable fruits.
The ambassador said that Pakistan and Japan agreed to sign Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) in November for export of thousands of hi-tech skilledlabourers from Pakistan to Japan.
He said Japan intended to attract around 3,50,000 blue-collar workers fromall over the world over five years by 2025 and further enhance this numberby 2030.
Japan would provide jobs to around 350,000 workers from 10 differentcountries, including Pakistan.
Kuninori Matsuda said the labor force would accommodate in 14 major sectorsincluding nursing care, building clinic, agriculture, fisheries, hotelmanagement, food and beverages, aircraft maintenance and airports groundhandling staff, shipbuilding, material processing, industrial machinery,constructions, car mechanic, electronics and electronic machinery in cardsto import skilled labour force .
He also praised the Pakistani workers who were working in Japan, sayingthat they were more skilled and working with full commitment and honesty.
He said professional skills and proficiency in Japanese language would bemust for workers to work in Japan under this policy.
