Azhar Mazlan said that development in Malaysia’s tourism sector is not a miracle, but the government started work on the development of the sector in 1980, allocated funds for marketing and branding and made a comprehensive plan for it. He said that there is a lot of potential in Pakistan in the halal industry and tourism sector, in this regard, Pakistan can reap benefits at international level.
He said that Malaysia and Pakistan can promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of tourism and halal industry through enhancing cooperation by the public-private sector. He said that there is a need for comprehensive planning for bringing investment in potential sectors, including tourism and halal industry in Pakistan.
The Malaysian high Commissioner said that the northern region of Pakistan is rich in natural beauty in which six major mountain peaks of the world are found and a major part of the Himalayan Mountain range also is in Pakistan which is a masterpiece of nature.
To a question, he said that there are 200,000 Pakistani diaspora in Malaysia, who are working in various sectors of the Malaysian economy. He said that these people are important in strengthening relationship between Malaysia and Pakistan and they are also playing a major role in the development of Malaysia.
Azhar Mazlan said that Pakistan is a hardworking and intelligent nation and international rating agencies are predicting that Pakistan will join the 20 largest economies of the world by 2050.
He said that bilateral trade between Malaysia and Pakistan is far below its potential and more work is needed in this sector. He said that negotiations between Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce subsidiary, Trade Development Authority and Malaysia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade are underway to increase the bilateral trade volume.
