The global recession has caused widespread business contraction, an increase in unemployment, and shrinking opportunities for trade. The large industrialised economies have begun to recover, but for the most part, buyers remain few and far between. Pakistan has suffered from the challenges of law and order, energy shortages and increased competition in our traditional markets of Europe and the US. Therefore, the resilience of our business community in such times is truly commendable. I applaud the performance of the Export Award winners on their stellar performance. It is my conviction that our exporters will perform even better in future to accelerate the progress of our economy, which is the need of the time.
I am grateful to the Honourable President of Pakistan, Mr Asif Ali Zardari for sparing some of his precious time to confer awards to leading exporters, which is a reflection of the incumbent government's desire to promote exports. I am thankful to all the office bearers, senior business leaders and Members of the Executive Committee for their contribution in organising this mega annual event. I wish the winners every success for the future, and hope that they will do us proud by flying the flag of Pakistan even higher in international markets next year.