Strong foreign policy linked with stable economy: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Thursday said a stable economy was inevitable for strong foreign policy for which Pakistan would have to enhance its trade and export volume with other countries.

Chairing the second high level meeting on economic diplomacy at the foreign ministry, he said economic diplomacy was practically initiated to exercise Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision and promote Pakistan’s economic and trade linkages at global level.

The meeting was attended through video link by envoys of Pakistan at 13 different missions including in Washington, Tokyo, The Hague, Tanzania, Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul, Pretoria, Oslo, Paris, Nairobi, Mexico, Los Angles and Kuala Lumpur, said a foreign ministry press release.

The envoys briefed the foreign minister on their efforts to achieve targets under economic diplomacy initiative.

The foreign minister said considering its importance, an Economic Diplomacy Division had been created at the foreign ministry under Additional Secretary Nabeel Muneer.

He said it was pleasing that Pakistan’s missions were exploring new avenues for promotion of economic cooperation and bilateral trade which was also bringing about positive outcomes.

The foreign minister told the participants that in collaboration with the commerce ministry, the foreign ministry held an “Engage Africa Conference” last year to strengthen Pak-Africa economic and trade cooperation. Similarly, first Pak-Africa Trade Development Conference was held in Nairobi in January this year, he added.

He said it required more hard work to cope with the global economic impacts of the COVID-19 and achieve economic stability.

The foreign minister also expressed satisfaction over the efforts being made by the participants to achieve the targets set under economic diplomacy initiative.