A delegation of the business community met with Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed at the Pakistani Embassy in Paris, France led by Mazhar Hussain Thathal, Chief Executive Officer of GTEC and Convener of the National Trade and Business Development Committee of ICCI. The delegation included Farzana Shaheen, a senior member of the Rawalpindi Women Chamber of Commerce, Arooj Rizvi, a commercial counsellor, members of the French business community, and others.
During the meeting, trade and business opportunities between Pakistan and European countries were deliberated. The delegation was informed by Pakistan’s ambassador to France, Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, that trade delegations visiting France should maintain contact with the embassy in order to schedule meetings with the French business community. The ambassador stated that France could be the most advantageous market for Pakistan’s business community.
Small and medium-sized businesses have historically dominated the French textile, apparel, and accessory industries. They were crucial to the industrial revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries in the past. However, the industry is currently declining throughout Europe.
Because of production in low-cost economies, the industry has undergone dramatic transformations, with design, innovation, personalisation, and sales taking the place of production. Today’s workforce is highly skilled, able to design ever-more-technologically complex products, and quick to adjust to new production methods and their processes.
With 12% total sales and 10% of the workforce employed, France still ranks third in Europe despite the challenges facing the industry, behind Italy and Germany. Fashion, high-end products, technology, and sustainable development are the main pillars of the so-called creative industry.
Nowadays, the French industry is focused on producing high-value, innovative products, like technical textiles, which account for 15% of the market. This progress has been greatly aided by fibre innovation, particularly in linen. Seventy percent of the linen produced in Europe is made in France.
According to Mazhar Hussain Thathal, the introduction of Pakistani brands and effective marketing of Pakistani products can boost domestic exports, provided that foreign nations offer trade opportunities to the business community in Pakistan.
