04.03.2022

The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Imran Khan continued the delegation-level talks involving the official delegations of two countries.

The issues of multifaceted cooperation development, primarily in the political, trade and economic, investment, transport and logistics, tourism and humanitarian fields were considered.

«The people of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, located in an ancient Silk Road, are connected with history, similar languages and rich spiritual heritage. Today we revive these traditions. We are glad that the relations between our countries rose to the level of strategic partnership», - stated the President.

A stable dynamics of interaction development despite the pandemic was highlighted. In particular, the volume of bilateral trade increased by 50% in 2021. It is higher than previous years, but still insufficient to the existing potential between the two countries.

The President mentioned that we have an opportunity to increase the mutual trade turnover up to $500 million in the near future and up to $1 billion – later on.

First of all, the need to jointly develop a program of industrial cooperation, as well as a comprehensive "road map" to expand the structure of trade turnover was emphasized.

The second important direction is strengthening cooperation between our countries in multimodal transport, freight and air transport. Recently, the Agreement on Transit and Trade came into force, laying the foundation for regular freight transportation.

The President has once again noted the importance of implementing projects to develop cooperation in the transport and logistics sector.

“The Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway is our common future. When the construction of this track is completed, we will create the closest, cheapest and safest corridor connecting Pakistan with Central Asia and Uzbekistan with the seaports of Karachi, Gwadar and Qasim. This railway shall completely change the view of our regions,” - said the President of Uzbekistan.

An agreement on the further promotion of this project was reached during the talks.

The prospects for resuming the regular flights were discussed.

The interaction between the regions of two countries is also developing. In particular, many projects are jointly implemented by business communities of Namangan Region and Punjab Province. During the talks, the sides have agreed to establish similar cooperation between Surkhandarya Region and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province as well as other regions.

Another major area is a pilgrimage tourism. In order to systematically organize pilgrimages, the President suggested creating a joint group and opening the representative offices of the tourism ministries of two countries.

The cooperation in science, ecology, higher education, art, cinema and sports was considered.

The Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Commission, the Ministers informed about the agreements reached and further plans. Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Imran Khan supported their proposals and gave the relevant instructions.

«I believe that the open and productive dialogue we have had today and the documents we signed shall open up the new prospects for our strategic partnership. Most importantly, we are, the two brothers have a complete understanding. To achieve the big goals set today, our governments should be in constant contact», - said the President.

The talks have once again confirmed a strong will and determination of our nations to take cooperation to a new level.