KARACHI, May 10: The Sindh Government was framing such policies that could attract investors from all parts of the country and abroad to achieve rapid industrialization of the province. This was stated by Adviser to the Chief Minister Waseem Akhtar at the inaugural ceremony of the second co-located international exhibition on Food Processing, Plastic, Printing and Packaging industrial machinery and applications.

The two exhibitions, plastic, printing and packaging Pakistan 2005 and Foodtech Pakistan 2005, which began on Tuesday, would continue till May 13 at the Karachi Expo Centre.

Mr Akhtar said that the presence of such a large number of international companies at this exhibition proved that Pakistan had potential of doing business at an international scale because of its ideal geographical location in Asia.

More than 130 local and international companies from 12 countries are participating in the two co-located exhibitions, spread over three halls of Karachi Expo Centre. Prior to Waseem Akhtar, President of Pakistan Plastic Manufacturers’ Association Zakaria Usman, President KCCI Khalid Firoz, Managing Director Pegasus Consultancy Aasim A Siddiqui, and Managing Director CEMS-Singapore Edward Liu addressed the inaugural ceremony.

Highlighting the significance of plastic manufacturing sector in the county’s economy, Zakaria Usman said that after many years, plastic industry of the country has started showing signs of a remarkable growth. “Plastic industry is the mother of all the rest of the industries because of its involvement in various shapes and forms,” he said and added that Pakistan has now entered into technical plastic manufacturing.

The President, KCCI, Khalid Firoz said that perception about Karachi and Pakistan had changed positively and commercial events like exhibitions and conferences had played a key role in improvement of its image. He suggested that lifting of import duty on raw material to encourage value-addition in the country’s SME’s production capabilities.

The organizers, Edward Liu of CEMS-Singapore and Aasim A Siddiqui of Pegasus Consultancy highlighted the salient features of the exhibition, which has successfully attracted a large number of international participation.

International participation at the show is dominated by Chinese companies. Indian companies have also taken interest in finding business avenues in Pakistan. In total 13 Indian companies are participating in the exhibition.

Major area of the exhibition is covered by the plastic and packaging industry, whereas the food processing equipment at display is expected to gather immense attention from more than 20,000 trade visitors.