Tunisia Chargé d’Affaires sees new trade scope under PTA

Outgoing Tunisian Chargé d'Affaires Dorsaf Maaroufi said the Preferential Trade Agreement with Pakistan will open fresh avenues for commercial exchange between the two countries. Speaking at a farewell reception hosted by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, she also praised Pakistan's principled foreign policy and its support for Tunisia at the United Nations, according to Business Recorder.

Speaking at the same event, Zafar Bakhtawari of the United Business Group said economic and trade ties must match the strength of political relations between the two countries. He recalled that Habib Bourguiba, who later led Tunisia after independence, visited Karachi in 1951 during the campaign against French colonial rule. Acting ICCI president Irfan Chaudhry urged Pakistan to turn its long friendship with African states into trade and investment partnerships.

Other attendees included the High Commissioners of Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the acting South African ambassador and ICCI executive members. Maaroufi, who spent five years in Islamabad, said she would keep promoting friendship between the two countries after returning home.