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Trade and cargo transportation: Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif held talks in a narrow format and with the participation of official delegations, the press service of the head of state reported.
The parties discussed a range of issues on further expansion and strengthening of Uzbek-Pakistani strategic partnership relations.
It is specified that in 2024, trade turnover between the countries exceeded $400 million, the number of joint ventures reached 130. Trading houses were opened in Karachi and Tashkent, direct flights between Tashkent and Lahore were resumed.
During the talks, special attention was paid to issues of expanding trade and economic cooperation. The importance of taking coordinated measures to bring the volume of trade to $2 billion based on the adopted "road map" was emphasized.
The priority tasks identified include expanding the range of goods within the framework of the preferential trade agreement, mutual simplification of phytosanitary and quarantine requirements, customs procedures, convergence of standards, integration of electronic trading platforms, ensuring access to the procurement system, improving interbank settlement mechanisms, and others.
Plans of leading companies to implement cooperation projects in the fields of pharmaceuticals, electrical engineering, the agricultural sector, agricultural machinery, geology and mineral resources, textile, leather and other industries were also considered.
In order to stimulate business and cultural contacts between the regions, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed holding a Forum of Regions of the two countries in Uzbekistan.
Over the past few years, the volume of cargo transportation through the multimodal corridor "Uzbekistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan" has increased fivefold. In order to further increase the volume of cargo turnover, an agreement was reached to create a joint transport and logistics company.
In addition, the importance of coordinating joint efforts to practically advance the Trans-Afghan Railway construction project was emphasized. An agreement was reached to hold the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission in July this year in Lahore.
The parties advocated for further expansion of cultural, humanitarian and tourist exchanges. In this context, it was agreed to hold mutual Culture Weeks and presentations of tourist programs.
An exchange of views on the current international and regional agenda also took place. The importance of continuing mutual support within the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the SCO and other multilateral structures was noted.
The President of Uzbekistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan emphasized the need to combine efforts in the fight against terrorism, radicalism, Islamophobia and other modern security challenges.
In order to develop new areas of comprehensive cooperation, it was agreed to create the Supreme Council for Strategic Partnership and hold its first meeting next year.
Following the high-level negotiations, a decision was made to develop and approve a joint “road map” for the timely implementation of the agreements reached and signed agreements.
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