ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday highlighted the “unlimited potential” for foreign investment in Pakistan’s key economic sectors, a statement from his office said, during his visit to Tajikistan to enhance Islamabad’s regional ties with Central Asian states.
Sharif reached Dushanbe on an official visit to Tajikistan on Tuesday which will be followed by a trip to Kazakhstan for the twin summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Pakistani prime minister received a guard of honor upon his arrival, where he was welcomed by Tajikistan Prime Minister Aziz M. Qohir Rasulzoda and other government officials.
His visit comes as Pakistan pushes to enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with the rest of the world, leveraging its strategic geographical position.
In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian states. Last week, Sharif chaired a special meeting attended by senior government ministers on how to enhance relations with the region, particularly in the areas of economy and investment.
“There is unlimited potential for international investment in Pakistan in energy, minerals, industry, agriculture, and other sectors,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) quoted the prime minister as saying during his meeting with the Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon.
Sharif also extended an invitation to President Rahmon to enhance regional ties and expand social relations between Pakistani and Tajikistan.
The Tajik president stressed on the importance of longstanding fraternal relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan, the PMO said.
Speaking to the media in a joint press conference with Rahmon, the Pakistani prime minister said both countries had signed several memorandum of understanding (MoU) which would be helpful in cementing ties between the two countries.
“These agreements will go a long way in furthering our brotherly ties and of course, expanding our scope of cooperation in the coming days,” Sharif said.
Sharif assured Rahmon that he would work with him not only to expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education, health and promotion of investment, but also in expanding bilateral trade.
He said the transportation of goods from the port of Pakistan’s Karachi city to Tajikistan via Afghanistan and then from Dushanbe to Karachi port via Afghanistan through a rail-road connectivity project was “an area of huge economic importance” for the two countries.
The Pakistani prime minister said Islamabad would be keen to be a part of the China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan trade corridor project.
“It would be another opportunity to broaden the multilateral trade,” he said.
The prime minister said the two brotherly countries had been the victims of “terrorism,” noting that Pakistan faced this menace for years and paid a huge price in terms of human lives colossal economic losses.
Sharif said the two countries should cooperate in defeating “terrorism,” adding that they could fight this menace collectively wherever it existed.
