Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif urged Turkish businesses to invest in Pakistan, saying that the two countries’ limitless potential should be seen in their exchange of goods and services.
The prime minister declared that his government would no longer put up with any obstacles or snags in the way of investment from foreign investors, including the Turkish brothers, during his speech to the Turkiye-Pakistan Business Council meeting, which was hosted by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey.
He told Turkish investors that his government will do all possible to create a hassle- and red tape-free environment for them. He stated that more Turkish businesses were willing to enter Pakistan during his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The prime minister expressed remorse over the fact that the Turkish businesses that had invested in Pakistan during the previous administration had not received their just rewards. The situation with Turkish airlines operating in Pakistan was similar.
The Pakistani people, who had benefited from Turkish investment and support, the prime minister claimed, could not accept such sluggishness and red tape.
“I want to convey this message to all, through you that we are brothers and family and will not tolerate such snags and impediments which hurt our ties,” he said and reassured us that his government would remove all the issues and address their genuine issues.
He declared that work on the “Trade and Goods Agreement” between the two friendly nations will be expedited in order to further promote their bilateral trade and business connections.
He said that an MOU had been signed, increasing the volume of bilateral trade by up to $5 billion over the following three years.
According to him, Turkiye’s yearly trade is estimated to be about $250 billion, while Pakistan and Turkiye’s trade is just about $150 million annually, which is nothing when compared to the enormous potential.
Syed Naveed Qamar, the minister of commerce, Maryam Aurangzeb, the minister of information, and Syed Tariq Fatemi and Syed Fahad Hussain, the prime minister’s special assistants, all attended the meeting. Leading corporate delegations from Türkiye, together with Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus and DEIK President Nail Olpak, attended the meeting on the Turkish side.
The prime minister emphasized the need to fully explore the limitless potential on both sides and that such a situation did not reflect their excellent fraternal connections.
He advised them to put out the significant effort and sincere effort to double this trade volume over the following three years because “only hard work and untiring efforts will be keys to a spectacular success story.”
The prime minister said their friendship and brotherhood had been known to all and sundry, as the world knew them ‘like brothers and a family’.
“Though the people of the two countries speak different languages, they understand each other and their hearts beat together,” he said, adding that historical relations and fraternal ties were not properly reflected in the volume of bilateral trade and business.
The prime minister opined that in every country, trade, investment, and business activities were governed by financial rules and regulations. He said that in this regard, the two brotherly countries had threshed out their problems to a great extent.
The prime minister said that he firmly believed that it was not too late to mend and stressed that they should move forward with joint efforts and cooperation.
“Let’s start today and look forward and learn from the past and move with speed so that we can compensate for the past losses and make dividends. There is immense potential on both sides, let’s synergize and move speedily to show to the world that we as brothers have the will, commitment, and sincerity of purpose to convert our words into action,” he added.
The Pakistani government imposes red tape on some Turkish businesses, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He added that there might be a lack of knowledge of the bigger picture and that bureaucracy occasionally caused issues and that the system needed to be simplified.
Governments may come and go, he said, but trade and business connections between the friendly nations shouldn’t be affected.
The flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) received roughly 33 billion dollars in investments from China between 2014 and 2018, according to the prime minister, before Nawaz Sharif’s administration ended and it was slowed down as a result.
The prime minister also mentioned that the world had been facing challenging issues, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which resulted in soaring commodity and fuel prices and a shortage of gas. Due to this situation, nations like Pakistan were suffering; in order to meet its internal needs, Pakistan had a significant demand for wheat and fertilisers.
The prime minister also lauded President Erdogan for making diplomatic efforts and rescuing the world by streamlining the supply of wheat from Ukraine.
He also mentioned the incredible efforts of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in this regard as well.
