Pakistan ready to provide Kazakhstan access to Persian Gulf markets
This year marks the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Pakistan, Serik Zhumangarin noted. In his words, over this period, the two countries have established close friendly and economic ties. A joint intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation has been created.
Pakistan has a strategic geographic location in South Asia. For this reason, the expansion of trade and transport cooperation is a promising objective for the two states, he emphasized.
«The initiative to sign an agreement on trade transit is of particular importance for us, since it is the transport sector that remains the «weak point» in mutual trade,» Serik Zhumangarin said at the meeting.
In turn, Pakistani business is interested in cooperation with Kazakhstan in oil and gas, banking, agriculture and other sectors.
«Our demand in energy resources is growing every year. Pakistani market is large, the country’s population exceeds 200 million people. We do not have minerals, but we have favorable transport links, railway infrastructure,» said the Federal Minister of Industries and Production Division of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Syed Murtaza Mahmud.
In addition, the Pakistani side voiced its readiness to provide Kazakhstan access to the sea and to the markets of the Persian Gulf countries through the Gwadar Port.
At the meeting, the parties outlined also the prospects for cooperation in energy sector, in particular, in gas transit using the capacities of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The sides agreed to discuss in detail the issues raised at the 11th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, slated for December 2022 in Islamabad.
In 2021, the volume of bilateral trade amounted to $95.1mln, having increased more than two times against the same period in 2020. Trade turnover between the two countries in 9 months of 2022 increased by 17.9% compared to 2021 and reached $57.0mln.
Photo: primeminister.kz