31 March 2022 | IN light of the still-raging epidemic across the world, economic under-performance and supply-chain disruption stalk many economies, Yiwu has been exploring new ways to boost trade and economic cooperation in the post-epidemic era. On the afternoon of March 31, 2022, the Yiwu-Karachi Workshop themed “Building the China-Pakistan Trade Corridor by Concerted Efforts of Governments and Business Sectors” was successfully held via video link. This event was jointly organised by the Yiwu Municipal People’s Government, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), and co-hosted by the Foreign Affairs Office of Yiwu Municipal People’s Government and the Yiwu Bureau of Commerce, to aim to promote exchanges between Yiwu and Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and important port, to build a bridge for deepening cooperation between enterprises from both sides, and to facilitate trade exchanges between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr. Ye Bangrui, Mayor of Yiwu City, briefed the participants on the social and economic development of Yiwu. In 2021, the trade volume between Yiwu and Pakistan reached nearly 600 million US dollars. The imports from Pakistan to Yiwu have tripled. Karachi is Pakistan’s economic centre point, an important port, and the largest city. Yiwu looks forward to further enhancing exchanges and cooperation with Pakistan, especially with Karachi; strengthening cooperation in export and import, e-commerce and exhibition; and deepening cultural exchanges to achieve win-win development and contribute to the development of China-Pakistan economic and trade relations.
Mr. Hussain Haider, Consul General of Pakistan in Shanghai applauded Yiwu-Karachi Workshop as a manifestation of the commitment of the two countries, particularly the two cities, to shore up their bilateral trade and investment relations. He was confident that the Karachi-based businesses would cooperate with their Yiwu counterparts to give further momentum to the bilateral economic relations. Mr. Arif Ahmed Khan, Chief Executive of TDAP hoped that Pakistan would learn from China’s experience and gear up to build digital platforms that will greatly improve the country’s digital connectivity to facilitate the export of high-quality Pakistani products to China.
This event brought together representatives from the governments, chambers of commerce, and enterprises of both sides to discuss what Yiwu and Karachi could offer in trade and economic cooperation and how to be part of each other’s success story. Many media outlets, including the Associated Press of Pakistan, Daily Mail, and PAKISTAN ECONOMIC NET, among many others, closely followed and covered the event.
