Sartaj Aziz for enhanced economic cooperation with Afghanistan

Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz Friday underlined the need for enhanced economic cooperation.

He was talking to Afghanistan's Acting Minister for Commerce and Deputy Minister for Trade and Policy, Mr. Mozamel Shinwari, at the Foreign Office, the Foreign Ministry said.

Mr. Shinwari is visiting Pakistan at the head of the Afghan delegation to the 5th meeting of the APPTCA in Islamabad. The Adviser noted that the common vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ashraf Ghani envisages a strong trade and economic partnership between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this context, a number of initiatives relating to bilateral trade, transit trade, and investments were agreed during President Ghani's visit to Pakistan in November 2014. It was important for both sides to work closely together to follow-up and to ensure optimal realization of the vast untapped trade and economic potential. The two sides expressed satisfaction over the fruitful deliberations during the 5th meeting of the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Coordinating Authority (APPTCA), currently underway in Islamabad.

The Adviser hoped that the first expert level meeting for Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement (TTTA) on 3 January 2015 would be an important step towards deepening trilateral trade collaboration among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Acting Commerce Minister Mozamel Shinwari noted that Pakistan is Afghanistan's largest trading partner. He reaffirmed Afghanistan's desire for further deepening bilateral trade and economic cooperation through common endeavours. The two sides reit- erated their commitment to intensify bilateral interaction in the transit, customs and transportation spheres and to enhance connectivity through road and rail links to provide further spurt to the growing economic partnership.