Pakistan for trade transit agreement with Turkmenistan

[Edevelop]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to Turkmenistan to sign a transit trade agreement to establish strong trade linkages with the Central Asian countries which may be extended further beyond to Russia.

The Ministry of Commerce will forward the draft of the proposed transit trade agreement to the Turkmen officials within the next few days for further deliberations.

This was discussed in a meeting by the Federal Minister for Commerce Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan in Pakistan Aladjan Movlamov, who called on him here Tuesday, said a press release.

The transit trade agreement with Turkmenistan will establish another trade corridor into the Central Asian states where goods will be traded with greater ease and in larger quantity.

In the beginning of last month, first meeting of Pakistan Afghanistan Tajikistan Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement (PATTTTA) was held which proved very fruitful. The three sides will meet again in February in Dushanbe with first draft of the trilateral transit trade agreement and the final draft of agreement will be brought on table in March in Kabul where PATTTTA is expected to be signed. The two transit trade agreements will be the harbinger of new era of trade cooperation between the two regions of South Asia and Central Asia.

The minister also proposed to establish Joint Business Forum which will include the businessmen of two countries to strengthen coordination between private sectors. This will also provide an assistive platform to the governments of two countries to communicate with a single forum for feedback and facilitation.

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan will sign an MoU with the trade promotion organization of Turkmenistan to remove procedural hurdles in the bilateral trade. The proposed draft of the MoU will be exchanged very soon, it was decided.

The minister also discussed the ways and means to simplify and expedite the process of issuance of visas for businessmen on reciprocal basis. This will encourage more businessmen to travel to each other's country and explore new trade and investment opportunities.

The ambassador was requested to provide the MoC with the calendar of events and exhibitions to be held in Turkmenistan this year so that the participation of Pakistani businessmen and investors may be ensured by timely dissemination of information.

The minister also invited the ambassador and the Turk companies to participate in the Pakistan Expo which is scheduled to be held in the last week of February. This will provide the visiting companies and their representatives an opportunity to directly come in contact with the local businessmen and examine a large variety of the products under one roof.

Pakistan for trade transit agreement with Turkmenistan