Shehbaz-Erdogan joint press conference: Pakistan, Türkiye commit to boosting trade to USD5bn

ISTANBUL: Pakistan and Turkey on Saturday expressed their commitment to increase bilateral trade volume to five billion US dollars and discussed ways to increase bilateral trade and investment in special economic zones.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the commitment while addressing a joint press conference after their meeting here.

The Prime Minister, in his remarks, appreciated the unprecedented progress of Turkiye in all fields under the leadership of President Erdogan and said that Pakistan was proud of its friendship with Turkiye.

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He said important meetings were held with Turkish businessmen in the B2B forum and comprehensive and constructive talks were held with President Erdogan.

“We discussed increasing investment in special economic zones and we are determined to achieve the target of USD 5 billion in bilateral trade volume.” He mentioned the common stance and cooperation of the two countries on global and regional disputes and said that Pakistan supported Turkiye’s position on the Cyprus issue.

He thanked Turkiye for its unequivocal stance on the Kashmir issue. The Prime Minister, while mentioning the talks aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation, said that Pakistan’s success was Turkiye’s success and Turkiye’s progress was Pakistan’s progress. “We have to give a new dimension to the partnership between Pakistan and Turkiye.”

He thanked President Erdogan for the wonderful welcome and warm hospitality. He described Istanbul as a beautiful city and a beautiful blend of East and West and said that the people of Pakistan and Turkiye have deep love and attachment to each other.

“There is a heartfelt bond between the two,” he said and reminded that in Turkiye’s war of independence, the Muslims of the subcontinent fully supported and mothers and sisters donated their jewellery.

“This unique relationship is based on shared faith, culture, history, mutual brotherhood and sacrifices.”

He said that Pakistan-Turkiye relations have a wonderful history. Both countries always supported each other in every difficulty.

“Be it war or earthquake, natural disasters or floods, Turkiye has always supported Pakistan. Turkiye’s help in Muzaffargarh and other flood-affected areas is part of history,” he mentioned.

He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself came to flood-hit Muzaffargarh along with his wife and the Turkish President’s wife even donated her necklace for the victims and her act won the hearts of the people of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also thanked Turkiye for establishing modern hospitals and schools in the areas affected by natural disasters and for its cooperation in social and economic development. The Prime Minister said, “We are proud that Pakistan and Turkiye are one soul, two bodies. The thoughts of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi and Allama Iqbal guide us.”

In his remarks, President of Turkiye Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to the Pakistani citizens who lost their lives in the tragic bus accident in Balochistan. He said during talks they exchanged views on regional and global issues with a particular focus on the bilateral relations.

He said the entire world had a sigh of relief thanks to the calm achieved through the Islamabad memorandum of understanding.

“Recently, reports in the international media had highlighted the challenges involved in the negotiation process,” he said and congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and people of Pakistan for playing a major role in achieving this outcome.

He said Turkiye supported and would continue to support every step to reduce tensions in the region and resolve issues through diplomatic means. “We are closely monitoring the Israeli administration’s provocations aimed at sabotaging the agreement. The Zionist regime had tied its survival to the continuation of the conflicts in the region.”

He said, “Our solidarity with Pakistan continues in every field. We 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 the target of increasing the bilateral trade volume to the previously set level of USD 5 billion. The respective ministries of trade were working on the special economic zone for the businesspeople in Karachi. Similarly, negotiations were ongoing for expanding the scope of our preferential trade agreement,” he disclosed.

He said he believed that the business forum attended by Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif would also contribute to our relations in terms of investment and trade.

“We too encourage our investors to engage in more activities in Pakistan. Our cooperation in the defence industries is one of the cornerstones of our economic relations and it continues to grow stronger with each passing day. We are implementing these projects step by step,” he added.

He said Turkiye wanted to deepen cooperation with Pakistan in the field of energy, transportation, critical minerals and information technology and we reaffirmed the shared commitment to this path.”