Paris (Reza Chaudhry / Correspondent)
Pakistan-France Business Forum ceremony without Pakistani business community, officials including the Chairman of the Pakistan-France Business Forum expressed complete ignorance about the ceremony, nearly thirty thousand euros were spent on the ceremony, the Commercial Attaché flatly refused to give his position in this regard.
According to the details, the government’s austerity campaign, while on the other hand, the national treasury was being spent recklessly, no Pakistani businessmen residing in France, let alone the Pakistan-France Business Forum, were invited to the France Trade and Investment Forum ceremony organized by the government of Pakistan. According to sources, on the one hand, the government is emphasizing savings and cuts, while on the other hand, what message is the Pakistani commercial office in France sending by spending about thirty thousand euros and organizing a ceremony in a large hotel? When officials, including the chairman of the Pakistan-France Business Forum, were contacted in this regard, they expressed complete ignorance.
When Commercial Attaché Saleem Ahmed was contacted, he flatly refused to give his position on how many representatives of companies from Pakistan or any representative of the Foreign Office participated. The Pakistan-France Trade and Investment Forum was organized by booking a hall in the most expensive hotel in Paris for 22,000 euros, in which it was claimed that government officials, business leaders, industry experts and representatives of trade organizations of both countries participated.
While the business community based in France, the largest forum of traders, the France-Pakistan Business Forum Paris-France, was not even invited. It was further claimed that this forum was organized to implement the understanding reached between President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2024, which will establish a strong economic partnership between Pakistan and France. The aim of the forum was to connect businesses, exchange ideas, find new avenues of bilateral cooperation and showcase Pakistan’s trade and investment potential.
