Japan ambassador to Pakistan Hiroshi Inomata during his visit on Monday to the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) said Japan is the world largest importer of textile but due to high rate of import duty in Pakistan Japan is not prioritizing Pakistan for textile imports to Japan as neighboring countries of Pakistan but it prefers Sri Lanka and India as they have low ratio of taxes.

The ambassador said that that the Japanese business community is reluctant to invest in Pakistan owing to deteriorating law and order situation. However, Japan is keen to enhance bilateral trade relations with Pakistan and will support every activity which will be initiated in this regard.

Japan will assist Pakistan in technical support and interaction between the business communities will be enhanced to boost the bilateral trade. He said that Japanese companies are already working in health, education and energy sector of Pakistan and mutual cooperation will be enhanced in future.

He also discussed various trade-related issues with RCCI President Syed Asad Mashadi during the visit.

Speaking on the occasion President RCCI Syed Asad Mashadi said that Japan must transfer technology to Pakistan and increase its investment in the country. He said that trade volume between the two countries is around $ 2 billion and it is need of the hour to take solid steps to boost the business activities between Pakistan and Japan. He said that RCCI trade delegations will participate in two expos which are being held in Tokyo this year to promote direct interaction between business communities of both sides.

Vice President Saboor Malik, former presidents Sohail Altaf, Shimail Daud, members of executive committee and other members of the chamber were also present on the occasion