ISLAMABAD, Feb 24 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday underscored the need to enhance the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Azerbaijan as their current trade of $40 million hardly reflected the strong relationship between the two brotherly countries.
Addressing the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku along with President Ilham Aliyev, the prime minister said that during their bilateral meetings, they achieved another milestone and discussed all subjects under the sun, agreeing on a very clear-cut way forward.
They also agreed to enhance their bilateral trade to meet $2 billion trade and investment target between the two countries and appreciated Azerbaijan President for generously removing the import duty on Basmati rice from Pakistan.
The prime minister, in a live telecast of the event on national Tv channels, said during their meetings, both sides also focused on different areas to address tariff issues so the bilateral import and export between the two countries could increase.
He mentioned LNG as another trading commodity which could be added in the trading pool, besides broadening the defence cooperation.
“If we put our acts together, we can achieve $2 billion trade volume between the two countries,” he stressed.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, who is on two-day official visit to Azerbaijan along with his delegation, further informed the forum that to meet $2 billion trade investment announced by President Ilham Aliyev during his visit to Pakistan, a lot of work was done by the teams from both countries.
Appreciating the work achieved by both teams, he expressed the confidence that smaller gaps would be addressed within one month.
He termed President Ilham’s upcoming visit to Pakistan in April as mutually beneficial for both countries and lauded his wonderful contributions in this regard, adding ‘the synergy would enhance the fraternal ties to unprecedented trade and investment opportunities’.
The prime minister further stressed upon close and enhanced cooperation between the two business communities from both countries to explore further avenues of trade and investment and cited agriculture, industry and IT sectors with immense potential of growth.
The prime minister announced constitution of a permanent bureau in Pakistan, comprising both sides to work in this regard with the assistance of AI and real time information, assuring that effective mechanism would be put in place. The teams should work out a robust mechanism, which alone could help them in a big way, he added.
He said that the defence cooperation between the two countries had already been there and they further discussed to strengthen it.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif opined that the North-South Corridor would be an efficient, reliable and cost- effective transportation means of connectivity initiative which would help achieve their targets.
The Gwadar Port would play a very pivotal role as a game-changer, he said and assured to work closely on this project.
He said Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce had established its office in Islamabad and also its offshoots in Pakistan, adding that Pakistan would also establish such like office in Baku which would be helpful in collecting information about the potential of trade and investment.
There were enormous opportunities on both sides which should be fully explored, he emphasized.
The prime minister also thanked President Ilham Aliyev for his great love and fondness for the people of Pakistan and expressed his gratitude for sending experts teams to Islamabad, who had been doing a wonderful job in improving the landscaping there and adding beauty to Pakistan’s Capital.
President Ilham Aliyev, in his remarks, said that such an initiative was though a smaller one, but an important part of their brotherhood.