ISLAMABAD, Mar 12 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said Pakistan would further enhance economic and bilateral trade relations with Turkmenistan.
Addressing a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov here, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said both the countries had agreed to promote Pakistan-Turkmenistan Business Forum.
He said it was also discussed to form a working group for oil and gas exploration.The first meeting of this working group would take place at a mutually convenient time in Ashgabat, he added.
Qureshi said the most exciting development of today was the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline. He said the linking of Gwadar and Turkmenistan was also discussed to enhance connectivity between the two countries.
He said areas related to energy corridor were discussed for overcoming the energy shortages being faced by Pakistan.
He said the engineering design of the project had been finalized while the selection of vendors would take place in next two months.
The foreign minister said the financing of the project had generated a lot of interest in European countries, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and many others.
He said, “October 2019 has been finalized as the timeline to begin the construction work on the project and the plan is to complete the first phase by 2022. This project will take the bilateral relations of between the two countries to new horizons.”
On the occasion, both the ministers expressed satisfaction over the current level of engagement and stressed on further endeavors to enhance bilateral economic relations through joint ventures in mutually identified areas particularly agriculture, textile, livestock and IT sectors.
Qureshi and Rashid Meredov led their respective delegations to the 2nd Round of Pakistan-Turkmenistan Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC). The two ministers also emphasized the need for specific measures, to ensure greater connectivity through road, rail and air linkages in order to promote trade, tourism and people to people contact between the two friendly countries.
Qureshi also briefed his counterpart on the prevailing security situation in South Asia, highlighting the aggressive and irresponsible attitude of India.
During the visit, Foreign Minister Meredov paid courtesy calls on the President and Prime Minister. He also met with Ministers for Finance, Petroleum, Energy, Governor State Bank and Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) and discussed issues related to cooperation in energy and economic sectors.
VNS ISLAMABAD
