Economy and Trade

Economic Cooperation Between Pakistan and Japan

Economic cooperation between Pakistan and Japan has always been important and significant – primarily, in the form of bilateral trade; foreign direct investment; and, assistance for economic development in a wide range of areas including health, education and technology transfer.

Pakistan remained one of the major trading partners of Japan in the early years with a large share in import of textile products. However, later this export basket got diversified by inclusion of agricultural and food products; surgical and beauty instruments; leather and sports goods; and, different minerals and metal ores.

Japan has been a major contributor to Pakistans need of iron and steel, in addition to the largest shareholder in Pakistans automotive sector. Apart from automobile manufacturers, there are more than 80 Japanese companies with their presence in Pakistan in sectors including energy, steel, textiles, food and pharmaceuticals.

Another rapidly growing area of cooperation between Pakistan and Japan is Information Technology (IT) where Pakistan is offering both, trained professionals as well as services to Japanese industries.

There are two high level arrangements for government-to-government (G2G) economic cooperation between Pakistan and Japan - Pakistan Japan High Level Economic Policy Dialogue and Pakistan Japan Joint Business Dialogue; in addition, there is a Monitoring Committee with representation by major ministries from both countries and the two embassies working at functional level to facilitate Pakistani and Japanese companies and extending support in resolving their issues.

Links of Economic Sectors of Pakistan

• Ministry of Finance
• State Bank of Pakistan
• Trade Development Authority of Pakistan
• Statistics Division
• Board of Investment
• SME Development Authority
• Security and Exchange Commission
• Ministry of Commerce
• Trade Statistics of Pakistan
• Export Processing Zones in Pakistan
• Agriculture
• Federal Board of Revenue
• Trade & Investment Section at Embassy of Pakistan, Tokyo

Links of Economic Sectors of Japan

• Ministry of Finance, Japan
• Japan External Trade Organization, JETRO
• Japan Customs
• Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry Japan
• Japan International Cooperation Agency

Pakistans IT Sector

Pakistan, which has about 60% of its 200 million population in the 15 to 29 age group, represents an enormous human and knowledge capital. Pakistan has more than 2000 IT companies & call centers and the number is growing every year. Pakistan has more than 300,000 English-speaking IT professionals with expertise in current and emerging IT products and technologies, 13 Software technology parks, More than 20,000 IT graduates and engineers are being produced each year coupled with a rising startup culture. For further information and opportunities to engage, visit Information Technology page at Board of Investment website. Following are some other Important sources for IT Sector in Pakistan:

• Pakistan Software Export Board
• National Information Technology Board
• Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITeS
• Ignite National Technology Fund
• National Incubation Center

Reasons to Invest in Pakistan

There are several reasons to invest in Pakistan, few of them are:

Geo Strategic Location

Pakistan is strategically located to become Asia premier trade, energy and transport corridor. It is also the gateway to the energy rich Central Asian States, the financially liquid Gulf States and the economically advanced Far Eastern tigers. This strategic advantage alone makes Pakistan a marketplace teeming with possibilities.

Population and Workforce

Fifty five percent of our population is below the age of 19, which bodes well for long-term sustainable economic growth, Pakistan has a strong middle class. A large part of the workforce is proficient in English, hardworking and intelligent. Pakistan possesses a large pool of trained and experienced engineers, bankers, lawyers and other professionals with many having substantial international experience. The consumer market in Pakistan is growing at a very fast pace as reflected by tele-density which has now reached more than 150 million.

Economic Outlook

In the global financial crisis, Pakistans economy has shown resilience to the shocks and has maintained global and regional patterns and has performed better than some of the neighboring countries. International Reports of repute.have shown that Pakistan ranks ahead of regional countries.

Investment Policy

The Policy has been designed to provide a comprehensive framework for creating a conducive business environment for the attraction of FDI. Pakistans policy trends have been consistent, with liberalization, de regulation, privatisation, and facilitation being its foremost cornerstones.

Special Economic Zones

The Law of Special Economic Zones has been made to meet the global challenges of competitiveness to attract FDI. The law allowsto createindustrial cluster with liberal incentives, infrastructure, investor facilitation services to enhance productivity and reduce cost of doing business for economic development and poverty reduction. The Law further envisages to reduce processes through SEZ in Pakistan. Priority Sectors offering investment opportunities include:

• Food Processing
• Textiles
• Tourism & Hospitality
• Housing & Construction
• Information Technologies
• Logistics

For further information and investment opportunities, visit.

Renewable Energy in Pakistan

Nature has blessed Pakistan with enormous renewable energy potential. Government of Pakistan initiated development of Alternative and Renewable Energy Sector under a phased, evolutionary approach constituting a strategic policy implementation roadmap to increase the deployment of RE technologies in Pakistan. This alternate energy strategy promises a higher proportion of the national energy supply mix and helps ensure universal and affordable access to electricity in all regions of the country.

Related strategic objectives include energy security, affordability of electricity, availability for all, environmental protection, sustainable development, social equity and mitigation of climate change. For more information,visit.

Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has launched Pakistan Trade Portal, an E-Commerce platform and Meet Pakistan Tourism, an Application for Iphone & Android users. These are the first of these kinds of initiatives taken by TDAP to promote trade as well as tourism.

On trade Portal more than 300 companies are registered with a range of over 7,000 products displayed and importers can make deals with Pakistani Exporters on the platform.

Meet Pakistan Tourism Application is a comprehensive tourism guide which covers all geographical areas from South to North. Weblink and promo are placed below: