ISTANBUL, Turkiye: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has 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.
Addressing a Turkiye-Pakistan Business Council meeting organized by Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkiye (DEIK) here Saturday, the prime minister 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.
He informed that during his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was conveyed that more Turkish companies were eager to come to Pakistan.
The prime minister said that 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 said.
The prime minister said that 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.
He 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 that they had singed a 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 added.
The prime minister stressed that such a scenario did not reflect their exemplary brotherly ties and stressed upon fully exploring the indefinite potential on both sides.
He said they should make efforts and endeavor 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’.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Information Maryam Aurangzeb and Special Assistants to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi and Syed Fahad Hussain.
From the Turkish side, Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus and President of DEIK Nail Olpak, along with leading business delegations from Turkiye participated in the meeting.