Mr. Eiji Shibata Vice President and the senior executives of the AEON Group called on the Ambassador. Mr. Shibata thanked the Ambassador for sparing time to meet and expressed his keen interest in Pakistan in the near future. He informed that AEON Top Value Co. Ltd, currently engaged in sourcing from Pakistan, was one of the trading companies of AEON Group, dealing with import/export, processing and wholesale of clothing, food and household’s goods. He explained that the purpose of visit was to have firsthand knowledge about the current economic situation and the business environment of Pakistan. Sharing the new marketing plan of the company he said Pakistan stood a good chance to be a potential sourcing country of textiles, mangoes and halal food products. He assured support for all initiatives taken by the Mission to improve bilateral trade and investment.
The Ambassador appreciated the continuous support of AEON Group and underlined the Government’s focus on restructuring the economy and upgrading the industrial infrastructure. The Ambassador highlighted the positive international coverage including up-gradation of ratings by Moody’s and S & P's, leading in South Asia in terms of Economic Freedom Index 2015 published by Wall Street Journal and the latest UN ESCAP Report projecting Pakistan's economic growth to be 5.1% in 2015. The Ambassador also urged Ms. Shibata to personally visit Pakistan for a hands-on assessment of Pakistan’s dynamism and potential. The Ambassador reiterated that a composite AEON Business Mission comprising sectors of textiles, halal food, mangoes and agriculture produce should visit Pakistan. The Ambassador reiterated his request for the support of the Japanese corporate sector for fair market access for Pakistani goods, especially textiles.
