ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Kuwait ended on an inconclusive note as no advances took place over the dispute in visa restrictions, which has impacted cordial relations between the two countries.
The fourth meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) concluded on Thursday and no agreement was reached to lift visa restrictions on Pakistani nationals, reports Express Tribune.
The meeting was co-presided over by the finance ministers of Pakistan and Kuwait respectively. According to sources, the issue of oil supplies on deferred payments was not brought up in the JMC meeting.
And Pakistani officials disclosed that Finance Minister Asad Umar stressed upon the need for lifting vis curbs on Pakistani nationals, which had become a major impediment in the economic relations and conducting of bilateral trade.
In response, the Kuwaiti delegation pledged to consider taking practical steps to lift curbs only on business visa requests, said officials in the Ministry of Finance.
No clear guarantees were provided by the Kuwaiti delegation to remove curbs on all type of visas and it promised to apprise Pakistan about the practical steps by end of October.
The Pakistani delegation expressed serious reservations over the prolonged visa curbs in place since 2011.
But both sides reached an agreement to setup a working group which would oversee labour market requirements of Kuwait aimed at obtaining a skilled workforce from Pakistan.
The officials shared Kuwait was offered by Pakistan the advantage of a trained workforce in the fields of automobile, construction, health, textile and agriculture.
Also, Pakistan advocated Kuwait to give approval to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the hiring of Pakistani professionals via the public sector.
To this, the Kuwaiti side said it would provide a response to this request in the next two months.
Bilateral and trade relations between the two nations were also discussed during the JMC meeting. It was noted the existing level of bilateral trade was not reflective of the true potential.
However, the Kuwait side communicated its interest in boosting shipping service between Gwadar and Kuwaiti ports.
And the Pakistani side extended an invitation to Kuwait to make investments in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Gwadar Port Free Zone and setup country-specific free zones to bolster bilateral investment.
The JMC emphasized on the early execution of the agreement for the Encouragement and Protection of Investment accord reached seven years ago but remained unimplemented, the sources said.
The officials shared, “Pakistani authorities again expressed the desire to increase agricultural goods and textile exports, but visa restrictions remained the key bottleneck.”
And the officials said Pakistani side had expressed an aspiration to reach an agreement with Kuwait’s private sector to enhance rice exports.
