Pakistan and Turkiye have pledged to continue efforts towards achieving a bilateral trade volume of $5 billion, Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday.
The Turkish president arrived in Islamabad shortly after Thursday midnight and was received by the premier and President Asif Ali Zardari in Rawalpindi.
Today, he was welcomed warmly with a guard of honour upon his arrival at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad for talks with PM Shehbaz, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. A contingent of the armed forces presented a guard of honour to the visiting dignitary, with the national anthems of both countries also played.
During a high-level meeting, the Turkish President said that both countries considered expanding the scope of their current goods trade agreement in the first stage, according to Radio Pakistan.
“Turkish investors will be encouraged to engage more in Pakistan and develop flagship projects,” Erdogan told reporters after the meeting. “Our military dialogue and cooperation in the defence industry have grown our trade and investment relations exponentially.”
Erdogan said that both sides reaffirmed their determination to advance projects and potential areas of cooperation including procurement, sales and joint manufacturing.
The Turkish president expressed confidence that the 24 agreements signed with Pakistan today will “prove beneficial for the two countries and the region”.
Addressing the Pakistan-Turkiye Business Forum in Islamabad, the PM said that both nations had pledged to ensure bilateral trade worth $5bn. “We had committed that together, we will achieve a target of $5bn volume in bilateral trade, but unfortunately it is a long way to go,” he said in his speech.
“Today we signed various MoUs and agreements but the more important point is that we need to convert them from paper to action. In that, I am fully committed to supporting all your efforts,” PM Shehbaz said, addressing Pakistani and Turkish businesspeople.
The prime minister sincerely apologised for any “undue inconvenience” experienced by Turkish investors, refusing to delve into details to avoid “political point scoring”.
“Some of our Turkish businessmen who came to Pakistan with a great sense of commitment … did that investment and both sides benefitted, but at the end of the day, some were given undue inconvenience and we are extremely sorry for that. It should not have happened and it shall not happen ever again,” Shehbaz pledged.
