Pakistan and Brazil have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, fighting corruption and enhance parliamentary linkages for the benefit of the people of two sides. This was agreed upon during a meeting between Leader of the House in the Senate Senator Syed Shibli Faraz and Ambassador Claudio Lins at the Parliament House on Wednesday. Leader of the House while welcoming the Brazilian envoy observed that Pakistan and Brazil have historically enjoyed cordial and friendly relations. He emphasized the need to further boost mutual cooperation and collaboration to bring people of the two sides closer. He said that trade volume between the two countries needs to be enhanced through frequent exchange of trade missions and provide business community an opportunity to explore possibilities for investment. He said that the Brazilian and Pakistani societies are affected by corruption and it is eating the institutional efficiency like a termite. He termed it a menace and said that newly elected regimes of both Pakistan and Brazil have promised to fight corruption in all its forms and manifestations and inter-governmental and institutional collaboration in this regard would prove fruitful by benefiting from each other expertise and experience to root out corruption from the governance systems. He also called for enhanced parliamentary linkages at parliamentary and other levels to provide opportunities to the parliamentarians to discuss and explore possibilities for cooperation. Senator Shibli said that economic and parliamentary diplomacy can do wonders in bring the nations closer. He informed that Pakistan- Brazil parliamentary friendship group in the Senate of Pakistan has been activated and as Chairman of the group invitation would be extended to the counterparts in Brazilian Senate to visit Pakistan at a convenient time. Senator Shibli also informed the Ambassador that Prime Minister Imran Khan has a clear vision for a clean and green Pakistan and has launched a tree plantation project “Billion Tree Tsunami” to avert the catastrophic effects of climate change. He said that climate change is global phenomenon and there is need to make collective efforts to address the challenge. The ambassador agreed with the views of the leader of the House in the Senate and expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome. He said that Brazil also places relations with Pakistan at high esteem and there is huge scope for improving ties in different sectors. The Envoy also appreciated the Prime Imran Khan’s vision and policy of mass scale tree plantation drive. Published in Daily Times, November 15th 2018.