Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanks Azerbaijan president for the rice import tax exemption

On Saturday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan for authorizing a five-year tax holiday for imports of rice from Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1596483208476266496

The prime minister stated on Twitter that "our two fraternal countries would cooperate to promote economic cooperation and connectivity through road, rail, and Gwadar port."

His post was in response to the Azeri president's comments that the decision to import rice from Pakistan with a five-year tax exemption was the result of their recent conversations with Mr. Sharif.

Speaking a day earlier at an international conference at ADA University in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Mr. Aliyev stated that during these discussions, both leaders reviewed bilateral relations.

He was replying to inquiries from Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director of the Pakistani Center for Global and Strategic Studies.

The decision to create special rules for rice from Pakistan, according to the president, was a result of discussions he had with Prime Minister Sharif on the potential of enhancing bilateral economic and trade ties.

“Why should we buy rice from some other place if we have high-quality rice in the brotherly country? So, that decision was clearly based on our brotherly relations,” the Azeri media quoted the president as saying.

According to Mr. Aliyev, Pakistan and his nation have wonderful relations. He stated, "We are grateful to Pakistan for the ongoing support it shows with regard to relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He said Pakistan always stood for Azerbaijan and its political and moral support was highly appreciated by the people his country

He admitted that Gwadar port was growing into a significant international gateway and claimed that it was simple to connect it to Azerbaijan.