Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met with the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Turkiye, and Iran, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State meeting in Samarkand, today. The premier discussed bilateral trade and the strengthening of economic relationships with the respective heads of the countries.
Kyrgyzstan
Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Sadyr Zhaparov, in their meeting, underscored the need for closer cooperation in trade, investments, energy, and people-to-people contacts. The leaders accorded particular focus to further strengthening of high-level exchanges, inter-parliamentary relations, and defense and security ties.
The leaders agreed to convene the next meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission at the earliest. They also reiterated their resolve for the timely completion of the “CASA-1000” power transmission project.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s readiness to facilitate the Kyrgyz Republic’s access to the sea through Gwadar and Karachi ports.
Turkiye
In his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Prime Minister underscored the importance of various bilateral institutional mechanisms, in particular the High-level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC), which serves as the leadership-level platform to provide strategic direction to this abiding partnership.
While welcoming the recent signing of the “Trade in Goods” agreement between both countries, the Prime Minister expressed the confidence that optimal utilization of the agreement would boost bilateral trade and act as a catalyst in further cementing bilateral economic and investment relations.
Iran
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with President of Iran Seyed Ebrahim Raisi and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries at length.
The two leaders positively evaluated the outcome of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic Commission and agreed to further promote bilateral relations in diverse fields. Both sides also affirmed the desire to strengthen cooperation in economic, trade, connectivity, energy, culture, and people-to-people links.
The Prime Minister underscored the need for closer bilateral engagement for boosting economic and energy cooperation, operationalizing barter trade, opening border sustenance markets, and facilitating Pakistani Zaireen. It was agreed that Pakistan would be sending a delegation to discuss measures for expanded cooperation in bilateral trade and energy sectors.
