Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkiye will touch new heights and the joint business council has a crucial role to play in this regard, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Addressing the Pakistan-Turkiye Business Council meeting in Istanbul on Saturday, Shehbaz Sharif condemned the recent bomb attack in Turkiye which claimed several lives.
Shehbaz Sharif stressed upon the Turkish companies to invest in Pakistan, as the infinite potential between the two brotherly countries should also be reflected in the bilateral trade and business. He said his government would no longer tolerate any snags and impediments in the way of investment from the foreign investors including the Turkish brothers. He reassured that his government would fully provide hassle and red-tape free environment to Turkish investors.

The prime minister said during his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it was conveyed that more Turkish companies were eager to come to Pakistan. He said it was regrettable that in the past regime, the Turkish companies that had invested in Pakistan were not given their due payments. Similar, was the case with the Turkish airlines operating in Pakistan, he added.

Shehbaz said such a lethargy and red-tape were not acceptable to his government and the people of Pakistan as they had benefited from the Turkish investment and support. “I want to convey this message to all, through you that we are brothers and family and will not tolerate such snags and impediments which hurt our ties,” he said, and reassured that his government would remove all the issues and address their genuine issues.

The prime minister said to further promote their bilateral trade and business relations, work on ‘Trade and Goods Agreement’ between the two brotherly countries would be expedited. He said they had singed an MOU to enhance the bilateral trade volume up to $5 billion in the next three years.

Turkiye’s annual trade stood around $250 billion dollars and the trade between Pakistan and Turkiye was hovering around one and half billion dollars which had been peanuts while considering the immense potential, he said and added such a scenario did not reflect their exemplary brotherly ties and stressed upon fully exploring the indefinite potential on both sides.

Shehbaz further said they should make efforts and endeavour to double this trade volume in the next three years with strong commitment and sincerity of purpose as ‘only hard work and untiring efforts will be keys to a wonderful success story’.

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He said their friendship and brotherhood had been known to all and sundry, as the world knew them ‘like brothers and a family’. “Though the people of the two countries speak different languages, but they understand each other as and their hearts beat together,” he said, adding historical relations and fraternal ties were not properly reflected in the volume of bilateral trade and business.

He opined that in every country, the trade, investment and business activities were governed by the financial rules and regulations. He said in this regard, the two brotherly countries had threshed out their problems to great extent.

HE said he firmly believed that it was not too late to mend and stressed that they should move forward with joint efforts and cooperation. “Let’s start today and look forward and learn from the past and move with speed, so that we can compensate for the past losses and make dividends. There is immense potential on both sides, let’s synergize and move speedily to show to the world that we as brothers have the will, commitment and sincerity of purpose to convert our words into action,” he added.

He mentioned certain Turkish companies faced red tape in Pakistan. There might be lack of understanding of the wider pictures, sometime bureaucracy created problems, he said, adding they needed to cut down the red tape with sharp scissors and to simplify the system. He said the governments might come and go, but the trade and business ties between the brotherly countries should not be impacted.

Shehbaz said China was a sincere and time-tested friend of Pakistan that had invested about 33 billion dollars in the flagship China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during 2014 to 2018 before the completion of Nawaz Sharif’s government and subsequently, it was slowed down.