International Cement Conference Concludes

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2018 ) :The first two-day International Cement Conference (INTERCEM) on Wednesday concluded with a positive note, where global and local stakeholders discussed in detail the possibilities of future cooperation.

All participants of the conference showed their excitement, citing that they now had a better picture of Pakistani and regional cement industry's pros and cons.

The conference was jointly organized by INTERCEM, a global events leader in cement sector and All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).

Industry experts talked on different aspects of the sector in the two-day interactive event. Apart from this, special sessions for regional market overviews were also organized which further clear the minds of participants about regional market of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc.

APCMA Senior Vice Chairman Farid Fazal said that the conference would help local industry to deepen the roots in regional and other international markets and they hoped that cement conference would set a new trend in Pakistan's cement industry.

All renowned cement experts participated in this conference and "We hope to work with our peers together to build a better trading relation with them." Many global companies also showed their interest to either utilize the idle cement capacity via imports or to enter in some contracts to upgrade or construct new cement plants in Pakistan.

"We have previously worked with a local cement company and help them in setting up their plant. We are further looking for the same or allied opportunity for our company to work with Pakistani stake holders," said Marcus Fritz Director (Sales) of a German based engineering company Thyssenkrupp AG.

He added that Pakistani infrastructural growth and its regional importance would help the country to further strengthened in this particular sector and his company was looking forward to extend its cooperation with local stakeholders.

Chairman Gulf Cement (Pvt) Limited, Abdul Majeed said that he was about to start work on a new cement plant owing to brighter prospects of this industry. "We are looking to create contacts and possible cooperation through this conference as China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in general and One Belt One Road initiative in particular would open up new horizons for Pakistan," he added.

China National Building Material Co Ltd Executive Chen Kui said that Pakistan and China were already enjoying friendly relations.

"We as a company are further looking to deepen our engagements with Pakistan in cement sector as CPEC and other infrastructural development initiatives are opening new horizons for us," Kui added.

Mohammad Hossein Dehghani, Manager (Operations) of Maize & Blue General Trading LLC, said that they were looking as to how benefit from Pakistani cement in United Arab Emirates and Iranian markets. "Pakistan is producing good quality cement and we are here to see how can we extend our trade relations with Pakistan," he said.

Cosmos Cement Industries of Nepal's Executive Director Dhruba Thapa said, though it was tough to extend our cooperation with Pakistan in cement sector, they could learn from their expertise . "We are an isolated country, we cannot import clinker or cement from Pakistan directly, however we can enhance our abilities and knowledge throughthis exhibition and from Pakistani cement manufacturers."