By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
The Consul General of Pakistan in Shanghai, Hussain Haider, has said that online negotiation for international business will become a new normal as the COVID-19 pandemic dealt the events industry a blow.
Addressing the online launching of second round of the Shandong Export Fair being held in Jinan, he remarked that the exhibition demonstrated a creative way of engaging international business during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Hussain Haider, Consul General of Pakistani Consulate General in Shanghai, Wang Zihai, President of Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI), Iqbal Kidwai, Secretary-General of Pakistan Chemical Manufacturers' Association (PCMA), Muhammad Nadeem Zafar, vice president of Pakistan Hardware Association and others attended the online opening ceremony.
“The Online Fair has provided an opportunity for enterprises from Pakistan and China to do business with each other,” the Consul General asserted.
He further mentioned that China has become Pakistan's largest trading partner, largest country of origin for imports, largest foreign direct investor and its third-largest export destination, while Pakistan has become China's largest investment destination in South Asia due to the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The exhibition is being hosted by the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce with Pakistani Consulate General in Shanghai, Pakistan Chemical Manufacturers' Association (PCMA) and Pakistan Hardware Merchants Association (PHMA) having extended support to the event.
According to the event organizer, Inter Commerce Expo (ICEC), deals worth $2.94 million were agreed at the first round of 2020 Shandong Export Commodities (Pakistan) Online Exhibition, with 28 Pakistani enterprises being invited this May.
