Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Takashi KURAI, called on the Minister of State for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan here Thursday morning.

Mr. KURAI congratulated the Minister on assuming his responsibilities. He praised the efforts made by Pakistan to eradicate extremism and strengthening of economy. He said that the Japanese Government has plans to support the Government of Pakistan in export promotion, improvement of security through the provision of security equipment at the airports and diversification of automobile industry.

The Minister said that Pakistan highly values its relationship with Japan. He hoped that the economic cooperation between the two countries would be brought to a much higher level with the passage of time. He specially invited attention of the Ambassador to assist Pakistan in promoting its textile in Japan through Preferential Trade Agreements.

The Minister informed the Ambassador that Pakistan offers numerous opportunities for the potential investors from Japan and they can invest in tourism, processing and packaging of sea food, halal food and its export. Japan can invest in these sectors and bring in her technology and sanitary and phytosanitary standards with the investment.

The Ambassador asked the Minister to participate in the EXPO 2025 to be held in Kazakhstan. He suggested that the Joint Government Business Dialogue process between the two countries should be revived for the benefit of both the countries. The Minister assured the Ambassador of all possible support from his side.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Finance and Economic Affairs Divisions.