Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry has stood 2nd in the race for Big Chambers Category Awards in the 24th Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CACCI) held at Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) received the award of 2nd position from Mr. Harvey Chang, President, CACCI. More than 4000 Chambers and associations of 27 member countries participated in the competition.

Speaking on the occasion,Mr. Zahid Maqbool lauded the role of CACCI for promoting interaction between the businessmen of Asia-Pacific region by bringing them at a single platform. He said CACCI has provided the entrepreneurs a good opportunity to exchange views and explore the possibilities of further enhancing regional trade and economic cooperation.

He also congratulated Mr. Tariq Sayeed, the immediate past President of SAARC CCI for being elected as Vice President of CACCI, which is a great honor for Pakistan and a true recognition of his commendable services for the business community.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool said that Asia Pacific region is now emerging as the world's largest marketplace, fastest-growing economy and the most vibrant region. He said the region is set to play a critical role in the world in coming days.  However, he said the key factor in its success will lie in the capacity and willingness of the region’s countries to co-operate and complement one another across a wide range of activities.

He stressed that the developed countries of Asia-Pacific region should share their knowledge, expertise and technology with less developed countries of the region as well as make investments & enter into joint ventures with them so that these countries could also achieve better economic growth and provide a decent living standards to their people.

He informed the participants that Pakistan’s economy offers lucrative investment opportunities in many sectors including energy oil & gas, infrastructure development and in many other areas while the Government of Pakistan has announced attractive incentives for foreign investors.

He urged that the investors of Asia-Pacific region should come to Pakistan and make investments as well as enter into joint ventures in areas of interest to reap rich benefits.