Karachi, June 06, 2023 (PPI-OT): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Pakistan and Iraq are brotherly countries which are linked by strong historical, cultural and religious ties. This is the perfect time to consolidate. According to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, he expressed these views while addressing the representatives of the Pakistani and Iraqi business community in Baghdad during his visit to Iraq. He said that during the talks with the President, Prime Minister and Iraqi counterpart, we discussed increasing bilateral trade and investment, cooperation with Iraq in infrastructure reconstruction and sharing of expertise in water management and agriculture.
Discussed on increasing cooperation in various fields. The Foreign Minister said that we are committed to explore new and innovative ideas of cooperation in the areas of connectivity, port connectivity and defense production. Cooperation includes, we discussed flexible visa regime for businessmen and investors and exchange of business delegations to facilitate the business community of the two countries. He said that as part of its Ease of Doing Business initiative, Pakistan has already made arrangements for visa facilitation and issuance of long-term visas for foreign investors visiting Pakistan. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan and Iraq have signed two MoUs aimed at further promoting cultural cooperation and extending visa waiver facility to diplomatic and official passport holders. He said that these initiatives will greatly promote people-to-people contacts and high-level exchanges to promote trade and investment.
The foreign minister said that the MoU on pilgrims aims to facilitate the legal movement of pilgrims to visit holy places. He said that it is a matter of happiness that Iraq has agreed to our request to open a consulate in Najaf, this positive development will take the momentum of bilateral relations to greater heights. He expressed the belief that the business communities on both sides would benefit from these arrangements which would help in increasing trade in line with our brotherly and historical ties. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that we are also in talks to facilitate our business community and remove obstacles in the transfer of funds from Iraq to Pakistan. He said that the current bilateral trade is not in line with the vast potential between the two countries. Pakistan’s Single Country Exhibition was held in Baghdad in March 2022 in which deals worth 20 million dollars were made, which shows the business potential between the two countries.
Pakistan-Iraq Business Forum for potential investors and trade partnerships from both sides G2G connections between partners and will provide equal opportunities for business networking. He said to focus on increasing cooperation and mutual investment in five priority sectors including IT, food security, energy, construction and medicine. The foreign minister said that in investments and projects, we will emphasize on using skilled and semi-skilled human resources of Pakistan. He said that he was happy to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and the Iraqi Businessmen’s Organization in this grand ceremony to further enhance bilateral trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. Need to pick up the pace.
On this occasion, he proposed the establishment of Pakistan-Iraq Business Council and said that it should include Chambers of Commerce and important business representatives of both countries, through which we can increase trade and investment between the two countries. Programs, policy proposals, road maps and special measures can be implemented to increase Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that economic diplomacy is the center of our foreign policy, we want to develop mutually beneficial economic relations. He said that our partnership should be led by a vibrant business community on both sides which would pave the way for the prosperity and development of both the countries.
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