LAHORE: Embassy of Italy First Secretary Augusto Palmeiri says Italy has launched its visa service from Lahore with plans to extend the facility to other major cities in the country soon.

He was speaking at a meeting with traders at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday. LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and executive member Chaudhry Khadim were present on the occasion.

Augusto Palmeiri emphasised the importance of strengthening the ties between Italy and Pakistan, both in terms of relations and business ventures.

He stressed the potential to elevate bilateral trade to new heights, setting an ambitious goal of reaching $5 billion and pledged continuous efforts towards achieving this objective.He extended an invitation to attend upcoming expos, highlighting it as the initial step towards boosting business ties.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said the chamber and Embassy of Italy signed an MoU in March 2018 and they would certainly like to renew it to further deepen the mutual ties.

Kashif Anwar said that Italy holds great economic importance for Pakistan as one of the largest economies in the European Union with a GDP in excess of 2 trillion dollars. Italy is an important trading partner of Pakistan in Europe which comes at 8th place among the top exporting destinations for Pakistan.

He added that according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s data, Pakistan’s exports to Italy were around $1.15 billion in 2022-23 while imports from Italy were $527 million in the same period.

The LCCI president said Pakistan’s exports to Italy are heavily concentrated in textiles, leather and rice while the imports are dominated by pharmaceutical products, scrap and machinery etc. There is a tremendous potential for Pakistan to enhance its exports to Italy in the sectors of processed food, sports goods and surgical instruments, etc.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2024