By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: “It is a moment of pride for us to represent Pakistan at an International Forum like China International Fair for Trade In Services (CIFTIS) to showcase our services and share business opportunities for shared prosperity,” said Maaz Qureshi, director operations at Obortunity.
“We are getting a very good response online and we hope that we will get more collaborations and business opportunities in our line of services through this participation,” he further added. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, Obortunity – Pakistan’s premier BRI and CPEC-focused firm – recently participated online in CIFTIS, which was held in Beijing.
Qureshi considers CIFTIS to be a great platform for Pakistani companies in the services industry to enter the Chinese market and avail business opportunities. “That is why we are also promoting CIFTIS in Pakistan by live streaming different conferences and sessions on our social media platforms,” he explained.
The company has been previously active in arranging CPEC and BRI related services,including resolving the gap between private and government stakeholders which is a key challenge for the successful implementation of industrial phase under CPEC. International CPEC workshop was also held in April last year and was attended by more than 50 executives across Pakistan.
An MoU was also signed between China Council for the promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and Obortunity to establish an annual investment and trade exhibition under the BRI to be held in Pakistan and China alternatively.
The Pakistan based company provided training sessions on the BRI to highlight China’s rise in global economics and politics, the phenomenal opportunities emerging out of regional integration, infrastructure development, increased trade and technological advancements.
In response to the question about future plans specifically BRI and CPEC, the company representative told reporter that they plan to further expand its BRI focused B2G & B2B platforms to create linkages in Central Asia, Middle East, Europe & Africa. Alongside, they are also stepping into skill based educational programs, Business & Knowledge platforms and Development sector consulting.
Gwadar expedition has also been a great focus of Pakistani firms recently. It includes creating awareness of intensive and in-depth look into the future trade developments of Gwadar to Business Professionals & Private Sector leaders from all parts of the country and abroad.
Highest standard of Chinese language programs were offered to a range of audience, giving them an edge to communicate with the Chinese and position them with the coming of CPEC, at a place to avoid any language barrier.
Many other Pakistani companies also showed their physical and online presence at the annual fair. CIFTIS is also the first major international economic and trade event which was held both online and offline by China since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Pakistan and China enjoy a broad-based relationship as the two countries are actively cooperating in political, diplomatic, social and economic front. Pakistani firms are ready to participate in various trade and economic activities with their Chinese counterpart and are willing to tap the potential of enhanced development prospects benefiting the both sides.
As the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized on various occasions that BRI, and its flagship project CPEC, would translate into a win-win cooperation of shared prosperity for China and Pakistan, in the region and beyond.
