Istanbul Business Conference opens new avenues for Paksitan-Turkiye trade: Sardar Tahir Mehmood
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), headed by President Sardar Tahir Mehmood, visited the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Islamabad on Thursday to express gratitude to Ambassador H.E. Dr. İrfan Neziroğlu and Commercial Counsellor Mr. Enes Malik for their valuable support and facilitation in making ICCI’s recent Türkiye visit, Business Opportunity Conference (BoC) and Excellence Award Ceremony in Istanbul a success. The ICCI leadership particularly appreciated the Embassy’s assistance in facilitating visas for the entire delegation, which helped ensure smooth participation of the Pakistani business community in the Istanbul engagements.
Ambassador Dr. İrfan Neziroğlu appreciated ICCI’s initiative to take a business delegation to Türkiye and organize the Business Opportunity Conference in Istanbul, saying that such private-sector-led engagements were important for creating direct linkages between the business communities of the two countries. He assured that the Embassy of Türkiye would continue to extend possible facilitation and cooperation to ICCI for promoting stronger trade, investment and business relations between Pakistan and Türkiye.
Sardar Tahir Mehmood said that ICCI highly valued the Embassy’s proactive cooperation in facilitating the delegation and connecting Pakistani businessmen with relevant Turkish business circles. He said the successful Business Opportunity Conference provided an effective platform for B2B interaction, investment discussions and exploration of new avenues of cooperation, while the Excellence Award Ceremony further strengthened the spirit of friendship and partnership between the two countries. He said ICCI would continue its efforts to translate the strong political and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Türkiye into concrete economic partnerships.
The ICCI President and the Turkish Ambassador also agreed that continuity in institutional engagement was essential for converting the momentum of the Istanbul conference into tangible business outcomes. It was decided that Sardar Tahir Mehmood would personally remain in close contact with Ambassador Dr. İrfan Neziroğlu to pursue the core objective of expanding bilateral business relations and ensuring that the private sectors of both countries derive maximum benefit from the growing economic partnership.
Both sides expressed complete satisfaction over the outcome of the Istanbul visit and agreed to maintain close institutional contact for further promoting bilateral trade and investment. They emphasized the need for more business delegations, B2B meetings, joint ventures and sector-specific engagements, particularly to help Pakistan and Türkiye achieve the US$5 billion bilateral trade target envisioned by the top leadership of both countries. Sardar Tahir Mehmood stressed that the private sector should be placed at the centre of efforts to realize this ambitious target.
ICCI Senior Vice President Tahir Ayub and Secretary General Ghulam Murtaza accompanied the President during the visit, while Commercial Counsellor Mr. Enes Malik was also present. The ICCI delegation thanked the Ambassador and the Embassy team for their hospitality, guidance and comprehensive facilitation, particularly the visa support extended to the entire group, and expressed confidence that the recent engagement would lead to further business opportunities and stronger Pakistan-Türkiye economic cooperation.