Tunisia and South Africa are Posting Ambassador/ High Commissioner in Islamabad
Photo exhibition of Kenyan landscape Soon in Islamabad | Group of Photographers sent to Kenya
Pakistan is not the member of The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
Report : Tazeen Akhtar | Pictures : Asif Farooq
Additional Secretary Foreign Affairs , Head of Africa Desk Ambassador Hamid Asghar Khan has highlighted tremendous potential of the continent of Africa for Pakistan to foster trade and economic cooperation and suggested high level official visit to African countries. He has shared that African missions in Islamabad are upgrading the representation in Islamabad. He mentioned ,in this regard, that Tunisia and South Africa are posting Ambassador and High Commissioner in Pakistan.
He was addressing to the participants of Pakistan–Africa Diplomatic Roundtable, convened by The DICE ( DICE Diplomacy Inclusion Climate Action Education ) Forum in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 4 September held at Inter Parliamentary Congress IPC Secretariat, Islamabad.
Amb Hamid Asghar Khan , as the torch bearer of Pakistan Africa Cooperation, apprised the participants of the opportunities Pakistan and Africa possess and offer each other that can, once utilized, can change the bilateral trade and relations landscape altoghether.
It was a dialogue on Pakistan–Africa building meaningful people-to-people connections.
Ms Aliya Agha, Chairperson, The DICE Forum conducted the dialogue attended by Amb Hamid Asghar Khan , Additional Secretary MOFA Pakistan and Mr. Mohamed Karmoun, the Dean of African Missions in Islamabad , Ambassador of Morocco.
High Commissioners of Kenya, High Commissioner of Mauritius H.E Munsoo Kurrimbaccus (Mansoor Kareem Bakhsh) HE Lt. General (R) Peter Mbogo Njiru, High Commissioner of Rwanda H.E Harerimana Fatou , Ambassador of Zimbabwe H.E Titus Mehliswa Johnathan Abu Basutu, Deputy Head of Mission of Egypt Aly Ashmawy, Honorary Consul Ghana Omar Khalid Butt participated in the Forum.
President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce Usman Shaukat represented the business community of Pakistan. Former President Islamabad Stock Exchange Zahid Lateef Khan and Former MD Overseas Pakistanis Foundation Habib ur Rehman were also present.
Secretary General IPC Ms Sitara Ayaz could not attend the event. Her staff Mr. Naeem Murtaza shared her message to the participants of the dialogue.
Amb Hamid Asghar Khan mentioned Pharmaceutical, ITC, Textile and Ready Made Garments as some major sectors to give boost to existing trade.
He specially noted Water as the most important topic to work upon referring the recent floods in Nepal that swept away more than one thousand people in few minutes. He said, water management, division and pricing is big issue between the countries of upstream and downstream. Therefore , Pakistan Africa can see this sector as well, as a common topic.
Hamid noted connectivity as prerequisit for trade and stressed the need to bridge the gaps and for that he recommended high level visits of government dignitaries to the continent of today that consists of 52 countries.
The speakers were unanimous that first the perception of Pakistanis should be made clear and correct about Africa. They said , seeing is beleiving and for that bilateral exchange of business community representatives may prove beneficial for both sides.
Amb Hamid Asghar Khan shared that a photo exhibition will soon be held in Islamabad about the beautiful landscape of Kenya. He said a group of profashional photographers has been sent to Kenya for that purpose.
(Note from Editor : All speakers can share the drafts of their addresses at the roundtable. We will publish them here with full content)
H.E Munsoo Kurrimbaccus shared the status of Mauritius Pakistan cooperation and said , ” Mauritius has emotional relation with Pakistan and we are keen to enhance trade and investment cooperation with Pakistan but we also need to see that no high level Pakistani delegation has visited out country in 18 years.”
He mentioned Indian medicine and cosmetics arrive in our country sooner than Pakistan. We want to buy it from Pakistan but the delays make it very hard. He shared that Mauritius Pakistan have 33 MoUs pending for last many years and no one has been upgraded to agreement so far.
Here it is pertinent to not a very important matter that Pakistan is not the member of The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) that is for regional cooperation. India is member and this year Chair of this organization. That is the reason of enhancing Indian trade with the member states in this ocean.
( The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organization of 23 member states bordering the Indian Ocean that promotes economic cooperation and sustainable development. Founded: March 7, 1997, in Mauritius (following an initiative launched in March 1995 inspired by Nelson Mandela).Headquarters: Ebène, Mauritius.Nature: A regional, tripartite forum bringing together representatives from Government, Business, and Academia.Current Chair: India (2025–2027).Membership: 23 member states and 12 dialogue partners.)
DHM Egypt Aly Ashmawy briefed the participants about easy business doing and friendly investment policies of his country.
He said, people are heading towards Africa from the traditional markets of the world. Egypt has Suez connecting Mediterranean with Indian Ocean through Red Sea where 06 ports of Egypt open the gates to Africa.
He informed that Egypt and Pakistan are working on connecting Gwadar with Suez Canal Economic Zone . He said, Egypt welcomes all for investments and joint ventures.
Pakistan’s Gwadar Port with Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) is part of a proposed strategic economic corridor to boost trade and connectivity between South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Egypt has actively invited international and Pakistani business participation, welcoming joint ventures in logistics, manufacturing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and digital services.
Strategic Corridor: Egyptian officials proposed connecting Gwadar Port—the key node of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—with the SCZONE, which handles a substantial share of global maritime trade.
Port Free Zones: Pakistan has explored replicating elements of the Suez Canal Economic Zone framework and seeking Egyptian expertise to develop its own port-based free zones and direct shipping routes.
