Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan being members of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) can jointly achieve the goals in areas including transport, energy, and trade policy to alleviate poverty in the region.
Talking to Kojoshev Arzybek Orozbekovich, Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, at the PM House, the prime minister said promotion of regional connectivity is one of the seven pillars of the government’s development strategy.
The prime minister said the government was actively pursuing this initiative which had the potential to integrate South Asia, China and Central Asia-the three engines of growth in Asia.
The prime minister said Pakistan economic growth rate had raised by 4.84 percent during last three years and it now offered great investment opportunities for foreign investors.
He said Pakistan had embarked upon a major reform programme that aims at fiscal stabilisation, mobilising domestic resources, phasing out subsidies, restructuring the power sector and other public sector enterprises.
The prime minister said the role of CASA 1000 was important in redressing the power shortages in Pakistan and expressed satisfaction over the project’s progress.
He mentioned that the recent meeting of Joint Working Group held in Dubai on December 5-8, 2016, took some important decisions which will ensure the project’s timely completion.
The prime minister hoped that the third session of Pak-Kyrgyzstan JMC would prove fruitful in enhancing bilateral trade and economic relationships.
Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) session decided on Thursday to enhance the cooperation in various fields of economy, particularly trade and energy.
The two-day third session of the JMC was jointly chaired by Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif and Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Economy, Arzybek Orozbekovich.
Both ministers signed Protocol of the Session at the conclusion of the JMC session.
It was agreed that a Joint Working Group on Industry would be established and hold its first session soon with mutual consent, while for textile manufactures the JMC had decided that a joint Kyrgyzstan-Pakistan venture would be launched.
Kyrgyz representatives showed keen interest to explore the potential of export of Pakistani goods to Kyrgyzstan, especially in the surgical, textile (leather), sports and cutlery sectors.
The possibility of procurement of Kyrgyz ammunition by armed forces of Pakistan from Kyrgyz producers was also explored during the session.
Pakistan also offered fully funded short-term trainings in banking sector under Pakistan Technical Assistance Programme (PTAP) and sought nominations from Kyrgyzstan by April.
Meanwhile, talking to media persons, Khawaja Asif said trade volume between the two countries was just $2.5 million which was far lower than the potential.
