ISLAMABAD, May 6: Expressing satisfaction over the strong ties between Pakistan and Japan, President Gen Pervez Musharraf stressed the need for enhancing economic and commercial interaction between the two countries.

The President was talking to a 7-member delegation of the Pakistan-Japan Association, led by its chairman, Shun Imaizumi, here on Tuesday.

The President told the delegation that Pakistan had taken several measures to make investment climate more hospitable. It would, therefore, welcome greater participation of Japanese entrepreneurs and corporations in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

Mr Imaizumi informed the President that the Association had been working for the last 55 years to forge close relations between Pakistan and Japan.

He assured the President that the Japanese businessmen and enterprises were looking seriously at the Pakistan‘s market with a view to expand their investment in various sectors.

The delegation, comprising leading Japanese businessmen, evinced keen interest in the areas of agriculture, food production, human resource development, and road and tunnel construction.

Recalling his visit to Japan last year, the President said that Pakistan greatly valued its longstanding friendship with Japan and desired to further strengthen its traditional relations with that country.