Pakistan-Turkey goods train: Railways officials asked to come up with concrete marketing plan

Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has asked the high-ups of Railways to come up with a concrete marketing plan, in consultation and co-ordination with the trade bodies of the countries, to materialise the route of goods train between Pakistan and Turkey.
Chairing a meeting on operationalisation of Pakistan-Turkey Goods Train here on Saturday and issues relating to it, he asked the PR officials to submit feasibility study, if there is any, to know the financial and technical viability of the Pakistan-Turkey Goods Train.
The meeting discussed the existing transport agreements of Pakistan with Iran and Turkey and Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA). The TTFA, developed by Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) with the assistance of Unctad, was signed by all ECO member countries, except Uzbekistan, in 1998. The meeting also discussed bilateral agreement on road transportation of goods and passengers between Pakistan and Iran.
The agreement was signed by Pakistan and Iran in 1987 to facilitate transportation of goods between the two countries. Agreement on International Transportation of Passengers and Goods by road between Pakistan and Iran was also subject of detailed discussion in the meeting. The agreement was signed between Iran and Pakistan during the concluding session of Pak-Iran Joint Economic Commission in June 2008 in Tehran.
To enhance and promote trade activities between the two countries a Road Transport Agreement was signed between Pakistan and Turkey in June 2003 at Islamabad. The progress on the agreement was also discussed in the meeting. Pakistan-Turkey Goods Train started its regular monthly service from Turkey and Pakistan simultaneously in August, 2010.