'Two hearts with one soul': PM Shehbaz says Pak-Turkiye economic partnership 'entering a new phase'

AI Summary

Pakistan and Turkey have reaffirmed plans to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion annually, discussing new initiatives including a special economic zone in Karachi and expanding preferential trade agreements. The two countries also focused on deepening cooperation in defense, energy, transportation, critical minerals, and IT sectors, while acknowledging Pakistan's role in mediating peace efforts between the US and Iran.

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Islamabad and Ankara have reaffirmed their target to increase the volume of bilateral trade to $5 billion a year. He made the remarks during a joint press conference in Istanbul with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is on an official visit to Turkiye. The two leaders had held a bilateral meeting prior to their press briefing. “In our talks today, we exchanged views on global and regional issues with a particular focus on our bilateral relations,” President Erdogan said. Affirming that Turkiye’s solidarity with Pakistan “continues in every field”, the president said the two sides discussed the “steps we can take to further enhance our trade and investment relations in a manner befitting the spirit of solidarity”. “We have reaffirmed our target of increasing our trade volume to the previously set level of $5 billion,” he added, referring to their pledge made in May 2024 based on potential identified in 2022. Erdogan noted that both countries’ trade ministries were working on establishing a special economic zone (SEZ) planned for “our business people in Karachi”. “Similarly, negotiations are ongoing on expanding the scope of our preferential trade agreement,” he said, expressing confidence that the B2B conference would contribute to Pak-Turkiye investment ties. “We, too, encourage our investors to engage in more activities in Pakistan,” he added. The Turkish president remarked that the bilateral cooperation in the defence industry was “one of the cornerstones of our economic relations and it continues to grow stronger with new projects each passing day”. “We are implementing these projects step by step, and I am confident and I believe that they will further strengthen Pakistan.” Erdogan expressed Turkiye’s desire to deepen cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, critical minerals, and information technologies. “I hope that today’s meeting and the decisions we have reached will lead to beneficial outcomes,” he concluded. At the outset of his address, Erdogan mentioned Islamabad’s role in mediation between the United States and Iran, which culminated in an understanding last month to end the war. He said the “entire world has had a sigh of relief thanks to the calm achieved through” the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on June 18 to end the US-Iran war. “Recent reports in the international media have highlighted challenges involved in the negotiation process,” he noted. The Turkish president congratulated PM Shehbaz and the Pakistani “brothers and sisters whose invaluable efforts played a major role in achieving this outcome”. “We too have supported and continue to support every step that will help to reduce tensions in our region and resolve issues through diplomatic means,” he affirmed. Erdogan said Ankara was “closely monitoring the Israeli administration’s provocations aimed at sabotaging the agreement” between the US and Iran. “The Zionist massacre team responsible has cited political survival to the continuation of conflicts in the region, and the Israeli occupying forces are also continuing their inhumane attacks on the people of Gaza,” he highlighted. The Turkish president asserted that the “current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to once again engulf our region in the smell of gunpowder and blood”. “Turkiye seeks the establishment of an environment in which all the peoples of the region, regardless of their faith, can live in peace and security,” he stated, adding that his country was making every effort to create such an environment. Erdogan emphasised: “No solution that does not derive strength from the contributions of countries in the region can possibly be lasting.” He affirmed that Ankara would continue working with “brotherly countries, foremost among them Pakistan, to strengthen peace, stability and prosperity in our region”. Erdogan also expressed his condolences on Friday’s accident near the Balochistan-KP border, which claimed the lives of 40 people. Erdogan had received PM Shehbaz at Vahdettin Palace, where an official welcome ceremony was held. The two leaders then proceeded to a bilateral meeting, which was expected to be followed by delegation-level talks. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Organisation head Ibrahim Kalin, the presidency’s Communications Director Burhanettin Duran, and the president’s chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic attended the closed-door meeting. According to the Foreign Office, PM Shehbaz was set to “hold discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a special focus on giving impetus to bilateral trade and investment cooperation between the two brotherly countries”. “The leadership meeting will also reflect on issues concerning regional peace and security,” FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Thursday. In his remarks, PM Shehbaz described discussions with Erdogan as “very com