Pakistan ready to cooperate with regional countries in economic, trade sectors: Aleem Khan

Liaquat Ali

Islamabad: Federal Minister of Communications, Investment Board and Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan, who is on visit to Tajikistan, held a meeting with Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda in Dushanbe and discussed with him matters of bilateral relations and important issues.

While welcoming the federal minister, the Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda reiterated that the doors of Tajikistan will always be open for bilateral cooperation for Pakistan, said a press release issued here on Wednesday.

Aleem Khan thanked the Prime Minister of Tajikistan and said that the two countries are historically bound in religious and cultural ties and in future this relationship can be further strengthened by the promotion of trade activities. Earlier, while addressing the International Conference at Dushanbe, the federal minister said that Pakistan was ready to cooperate in all kinds of economic and business activities in the region for which practical work was being done to bring trade corridors to global standards and connect them with other countries.

He said that Pakistan was working on digitizing the “Silk Route Corridor” especially for the countries of Central Asia while also ensuring the implementation of “Right to Monitor” through satellite technology on the roads under construction. Aleem Khan further said that today is the era of import and export, international trade is the guarantee of development for which standard and spacious roads will be constructed while for the countries of Central Asia, like Karachi and Port Qasim, Gwadar Port would also be available. While offering all kinds of support from Pakistan to the Central Asian States, he said that through this International Conference, new ways of development and prosperity would be opened between different countries.

On the occasion, the federal minister held separate meetings with the ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in addition to Tajikistan in Dushanbe, in which it was agreed to promote business-to-business and Government-to-Government activities between Pakistan and Central Asian countries. Similarly, the construction of trade corridors from Pakistan to these countries through China, Afghanistan and alternative routes was also considered. Tajikistan’s Minister of Material Resources Ahmedzada Noor Mahmad also called on Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan in which the export of various food items including sugar, potatoes, textiles and livestock from Pakistan was discussed. Aleem Khan expressed his gratitude to the Ministers while describing the holding of this Conference as very fruitful while gifts were also exchanged with each other on this occasion.