Pakistan always offers more than expectations: Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese

Newswire

Islamabad: Italy’s Ambassador to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese said this week that Pakistan always offered more than one’s expectations.

“I had great expectations but Pakistan is always more than what I expect,” said Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese in a recent media interaction.

Amid the usual flowery words of Pakistan being a country with great traditions and a young population with positive energy, the Ambassador expressed interest in deepening ties between the two countries.

At $1.5 billion, Pakistan-Italy trade is a below its potential. “I was in Lebanon and with its population of four million people, trade was $1.2bn. So there is a lot of room for bilateral trade to grow.”

Pakistan’s main exports are of textile, leather, rice and ethanol. They stood at $731m in the last fiscal year. Imports were $521m. They were mostly of machinery, petroleum products, vehicles, iron and steel and pharmaceuticals.

“We have a community of 200,000 Pakistanis in Italy. About 140,000 are documented and 60,000 are being documented,” said the ambassador. With families back at home, Pakistanis in Italy sent remittances of $452.8m in 2020, accounting for a fifth of inflows from the European Union, according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Speaking from his experience as the person who used to write the official travel advisory of Italy, he spoke of the ways Pakistan can attract tourists.

“Pakistan is not for the middle man. Keeping in mind certain behaviours that may offend local sensibilities, we do not pose major limits for Italians wanting to travel here,” he said. Italians have extreme tourists such as those wanting to climb the Himalayas. Outlining how the middle class can be attracted, the ambassador spoke of the need for infrastructure.

“People want a comfortable hotel in a scenic spot with English speaking staff and transport available to buy your Pashmina shawls. Even those who are not very rich can then come.”

Italy wants to attract rich Pakistanis who spend their summers abroad as well. “You have 30m people that are rich,” he said, speaking about the competition among European countries that vie for Pakistani tourists — leisure as well as health. Well-off people go to foreign hospitals. “Why should someone go to London for an operation and not Milano,” he queried.

“About 5,000-6,000 Pakistani tourists visit Italy every year. Most go to other countries and that is not positive for us.”