Economic cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan, two friendly countries, is set to be a priority during Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's upcoming visit to Turkey in September.
A senior Pakistani diplomat told Sunday's Zaman that Turkey and Pakistan are focusing on putting in place institutional mechanisms, such as signing a comprehensive preferential trade agreement (PTA) and a Treaty on Protection of Investment, which will guarantee that economic ties achieve new heights.
“It is the strong desire of the new government to forge a strong strategic partnership with Turkey and especially to bring a qualitative and quantitative change in our economic and commercial relations,” the diplomat said.
During the visit, Sharif will co-chair the 3rd High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) meeting with Erdoğan, at which cabinet ministers and senior officials from both Turkey and Pakistan will also be present.
Turkey is the second country after China that Sharif has selected for an official overseas trip. On his China visit, the countries signed agreements in the energy and infrastructure fields worth billions of dollars.
Adem Kula, a coordinator with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK), told Sunday's Zaman that the new government in Pakistan will have even closer relationships with Turkey compared to previous governments. “Cooperation in energy projects between the two countries will be an important part of the meetings,” Kula added.
In the election held in May, the people of Pakistan elected Sharif, who was deposed in a military coup in 1999, as prime minister, marking the first civilian transfer of power in a country that has undergone three military coups.
Even though Turkey-Pakistan relations are evaluated as fraternal by observers, it seems that both countries have to go a long way to transform their commercial relations. Bilateral trade surpassed the $1 billion mark in 2011, but there is room to increase economic ties even further. The trade volume slightly decreased in 2012 compared to the previous year.
Prior to Sharif's visit, on Sept. 6 the Turkish-Pakistani Mining and Energy Conference will be held in Turkey with the participation of senior officials from both countries. There will also be a round of talks on the PTA in the second week of September, which is later expected to be finalized between Turkey and Pakistan.
The two countries have been in negotiations to conclude a comprehensive PTA and are currently discussing which sectors should be included in such an agreement. As Pakistan does not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU, the two countries could not sign an FTA, as Turkey is a signatory to the customs union agreement with the EU.
Despite having significant natural resources and a large workforce, Pakistan has had 12 to 16-hour electricity blackouts each day in the summers of the last three years; thus, industrial production has plummeted to record lows.
Turkey would like to boost its relationship with Pakistan in the economic, social, political and trade areas. The success of recent projects, such as the Metro Bus and Solid Waste Management projects in Lahore, wind energy in Sindh and numerous reconstruction and rehabilitation projects in earthquake and flood-affected areas provide a solid foundation to further enhance this cooperation in diverse fields.
Turkey and Pakistan have increased mutual cooperation since the establishment of the HLCC at the prime ministerial level in October 2009. The two countries finalized a currency swap agreement (CSA) in November 2011, allowing them to trade in their own currencies.
During the last annual meeting of the HLCC in May 2012, a Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Erdoğan signed nine protocols and a joint declaration that aimed to bring a new momentum to Turkish-Pakistani relations by enhancing cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, transportation and tourism.
Pakistan and Turkey have also increased their cooperation in terms of transportation. The Gül Train project, which is a railroad project connecting İstanbul-Tehran-Islamabad, was launched in August 2009. A logistics company had been established under the aegis of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) to operate the container train service.
Courtesy: Today's Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/news-324932-economic-cooperation-to-top-agenda-on-pakistani-pms-turkey-visit.html
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