ISLAMABAD, March 11: The Belgium government has shown interest in entering into joint ventures with Pakistan in various fields to enhance cooperation and trade between the two countries.

This was stated by an 18-member business delegation led by Mrs Silvana Flagothier, Inspector General, Walloon Export Agency, Belgium in a meeting with the Commerce Minister, Humayun Akhtar Khan. Commerce secretary, Kamal Afsar also attended the meeting. The delegation comprised representatives from the big companies of Belgium.

Mrs Silvana told the minister that the Belgian delegation was visiting Pakistan to assess the opportunities for Belgium in various sectors of Pakistan like gas pipeline, textile machinery, textile processing, photographic sector, composing machines, health care, etc.

The delegation leader said that it had signed a joint venture with the City Government of Lahore in Waste Composting for making natural fertilizer by recycling the biodegradable waste products. They showed their interest in signing a similar agreement with the Capital Development Authority.

Humayun Akhtar Khan briefed the delegation on trade and economic scenario of Pakistan at length. He said Pakistan had a very friendly and conducive environment for foreign investment.

He said that Pakistan had fairly free trade regime and had liberalized economy by introducing comprehensive reforms in various sectors like banking, trade, tariffs, etc. "Our tariffs are the lowest in the region which must be a great temptation for the foreign investors", the minister added.

Mr Humayun said that Pakistan's location best suited for export and import because it enjoyed geographical proximity with Afghanistan, Central Asia, Middle East and China.