Kazak President to visit Pakistan for strengthening economic ties: Ambassador Kistafin

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan on Saturday said the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the near future for further strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations.

A business delegation of Kazakhstan led by Mr.Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and showed interest to explore business and investment opportunities in Pakistan, said a press release issued here by the ICCI here. The delegation was representing food and beverages, oil and gas, minerals, precious stones, fertilizers, chemicals, textiles, autoparts, wholesale and retail sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan said that his country wants to further strengthen trade relations with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to do trade in many items. He said that last year, a trade delegation of Kazakhstan was organized to Pakistan and hoped that the visit of another Kazakh delegation would contribute to promote business relations between the two countries.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that both countries should set at least US$ 1 billion bilateral trade target as the current level of trade is not matching with their actual potential. He said that Kazakhstan is a big landlocked country and Pakistani ports provide it the shortest route through Arabian Sea to access other markets.

Pakistan and Kazakhstan can cooperate in many fields including construction, agriculture, energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food items, engineering equipment, machinery, banking & finance. He said both countries should explore road and railway links that would boost trade and economic relations between them.

He said that ICCI is planning a delegation to Kazakhstan to explore new avenues of business partnerships increasing bilateral trade ties between the two countries. Yessentayev Arman, Head of Kazakh delegation said that Pakistan is a huge market for business and investment and they have come to explore business opportunities in many sectors in Pakistan including oil & gas, surgical instruments, juices, textiles, rice, sugar, fertilizers and others.

He said that both countries should open bank branches in each other’s market that would facilitate bilateral trade promotion. He said that there is a lack of information in private sectors of both countries about potential areas of business cooperation and hoped that their visit to Pakistan would bridge this gap.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI said that both countries should sign a transit trade agreement to provide a legal framework to the private sectors for trade promotion. He said that Pakistan can also get easy access to Central Asian markets by developing close cooperation with Kazakhstan.