National Day of the Republic of Turkiye: Message from Muhammad Farooq Afzal, Founding President Pakistan-Turkiye Business Forum

TEXT: The people and the Government of Pakistan express their heartiest congratulations to the brotherly people and government of Turkiye on the Turkish National Day.

The Turkiye under the dynamic leadership of H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will crown the great journey, In Shaa Allah, which has been going on in a historical continuity from the Seljuk Empire to the Ottoman Empire and from there to the young Republic of Turkiye, with 2023 goals, and raise it to an upper level with 2053 and 2071 visions.

Every success of Turkiye feeds, energizes the hopes in the shared conscience of humanity as well as in the hearts of all the oppressed and the wronged in the region and across the world. That is why Turkiye, which is world’s 17th biggest economy, ranks first in humanitarian aid in terms of national income.

Turkiye being the responsible nation of the world community has fulfilled its humanitarian responsibilities and has opened its heart and doors to refugees from Syria.

Recently Pakistan suffered a lot due to heavy floods and Turkiye was the first brethren come forward to help Pakistan. On Behalf of people of Pakistan I would like to express my highest gratitude to the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the brethren of Türkiye for extending humanitarian relief assistance to Pakistan. The relief assistance from Türkiye was in the form of immediate dispatch of tents, emergency food items, and medicines via 12 Turkish military aircraft, four ‘goodness trains’ and two Turkish Red Crescent Trucks.

We hope that Türkiye will also assist Pakistan in overcoming the food shortage as well as in undertaking reconstruction and rehabilitation of the flood-affected areas of Pakistan.

The bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkiye stood at $883 million in the fiscal year 2021-22 with Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye amounting to $366 million and Pakistan’s imports from Turkiye amounting to $517 million which does not reflect the respective potential.

I am glad that finally after 19 rounds of bilateral negotiations, the Free Trade Agreement was signed last August 2022. This is indeed a great moment and a milestone” in the brotherly and historic relations between Pakistan and Turkiye. This will help to achieve the strategic goal of bilateral trade of $ 5 billion in the medium term.

Under the PTA, Pakistan has gained market access in traditional sectors such as leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, and sports goods; and non-traditional sectors including seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber tubes and tyres, plastics, and engineering goods.

We highly value the relations of special and privileged strategic partnership evolved between our two Nations. I am confident that by joint efforts we will further actively develop constructive diplomatic, political and trade relations of mutually beneficial cooperation in all spheres.

I would like to congratulate to the people and Government of Turkiye on the National Day from the bottom of my heart and wish them good health, happiness, prosperity and great successes. Long Live Pakistan Turkiye Friendship.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022