Councillor Zafar Iqbal travelled to Pakistan’s capital to make the case for Birmingham as a partner of choice — at a forum where Commonwealth trade, diaspora business networks, and city diplomacy all came together.
From 9th to 12th May 2026, Birmingham’s Lord Mayor Councillor Zafar Iqbal visited Islamabad at the invitation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce. The occasion was a special meeting of the Pakistan chapter of the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, convened specifically to explore trade opportunities between Pakistan and the UK, with Birmingham as a central thread running through the conversations.
It was not a first encounter. In 2022, the then Lord Mayor attended the inauguration of the Pakistan chapter in Islamabad. The visit was a return, with a clearer agenda and more to build on.
The business case for Birmingham
The city’s Pakistani community is one of the largest in the UK, and many within it are already trading between the two countries, mostly through small and medium-sized enterprises operating with relatively little institutional support. That reality sat at the core of why this visit made sense. It wasn’t about introducing Birmingham to Pakistan; the connections are already there. It was about giving them greater weight.
Nasir Awan, board member of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and its immediate past president, joined the Lord Mayor’s delegation. Work was also done ahead of the visit to bring a small contingent of Birmingham SMEs to Islamabad — local businesses with real skin in the game, not just observers.
The Commonwealth Business Forum
The second day of the visit centred on a Commonwealth Business Forum attended by High Commissioners and commercial counsellors from across Commonwealth nations based in Pakistan. The discussion focused on trade flows within the Commonwealth network and what Birmingham and the West Midlands specifically bring to the table, in terms of industry, investment climate, and the talent and enterprise that its communities represent.
Convening diplomats, business leaders, and civic representatives in the same room around a trade agenda is the kind of thing that tends to produce results less visible but longer lasting than a headline agreement.
What comes next
The Islamabad Chamber has made clear its interest in a continuing relationship, and the Commonwealth Business Forum model creates a ready structure for future engagement. For Birmingham, the more immediate question is how to support the businesses that showed up in Islamabad (and the many more that didn’t) to turn that momentum into something concrete.
The visit was a reminder that some of Birmingham’s most significant international relationships aren’t new. They’re already woven into the city’s fabric. The work is in recognising them and building from there.
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