ASHGABAT: President Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday said Pakistan offered excellent opportunities to Tajikistan for its imports and exports through Gwadar port and invited the country to benefit from the trade route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The president in a meeting with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, hoped that the legal process for Tajikistan’s entry into Quadrilateral Traffic-in-Transit Agreement (QTTA) would provide the Central Asian country a legal framework to access Pakistani seaports through the CPEC.
The QTTA is a transit trade deal between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan with a road project under the umbrella of the CPEC.
The two leaders, who met here in the Turkmenistan’s capital on the sidelines of 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), discussed cooperation in energy sector, regional connectivity and trade.
Mamnoon said Pakistan attached great priority to the timely completion of CASA-1000 by 2018 and looked forward to importing electricity from Tajikistan.
He called for expediting the implementation phase of CASA-1000 and initiating physical work on the flagship project for its timely completion.
He stressed the need to finalise the Bilateral Transit Trade Agreement, which he said would create a win-win situation by creating road links between Pakistan and Tajikistan.
The president said that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan was highest among the Central Asian countries and emphasised on tapping its true potential.
He asked his Tajik counterpart to send a trade delegation to attend the 10th edition of Expo Pakistan, scheduled to be held this November.
He said Tajikistan was a gateway to Central Asian countries and emphasised that establishment of air and road links would promote bilateral trade and tourism. He said resumption of direct air link between two countries in May 2016 was a big step forward and stressed the need for resumption of flights by Tajikistan’s Somon Air, which had been suspended within three months of its launch. Speaking on the occasion, President Emomali mentioned that the bilateral accords signed in the last four years had boosted the trade ties between the two countries.
He thanked Pakistan for providing counterterrorism training to Tajikistan’s defence, security and police officials that helped improve their professional capacity.
Published in Daily Times, September 18th 2017.
