Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani on Friday said economic cooperation among the regional countries was essential for prosperity and development of the region. The Chairman Senate expressed these views while meeting with ambassadors of Kazakhstan- Barlybay Sadykov, Turkmenistan- Atadjan Movlamov, and Kirgizstan- Erik Beishembiev. He said enhanced regional and trans-regional cooperation would not only transform the bilateral ties among different countries but also improve the economic prospects for the region. Better parliamentary linkages would pave the way for cooperation in other sectors as the parliaments not only play an active role for promoting the diplomacy but also enhancing the economic ties. Chairman Senate said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan have cordial relations at all levels from parliaments and governments to the people at large. He underlined that brotherly ties with Kazakhstan are the cornerstone of our foreign policy. He emphasized the need for further promotion and strengthening of parliamentary cooperation between Kazakhstan and Pakistan with primary focus on enhancement of inter-parliamentary engagements. Sanjrani said that Senate of Pakistan has Parliamentary Friendship Group for Kazakhstan and there was a need to enhance bilateral parliamentary relations through the forum of Friendship Group. He said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan have shared ideological and political stances on major issues of international concern, therefore, coordination between the parliaments of both the countries on the multilateral parliamentary forums of APA was very important. He said that the bilateral ties were further geared up during the visit of President of Kazakhstan to Pakistan in January 2018. He said that both the countries have interaction in areas of military education, training of Special Forces and military technical cooperation. The delegations from both the countries visited the defence exhibitions on reciprocal basis. The ambassador of Kazakhstan agreed with the views of the Senate Chairman and called for improved parliamentary linkages to steer further cooperation in different sectors. In another meeting, the Chairman Senate said Pakistan and Turkmenistan can play an active role for synergising efforts for social and economic benefit of both the countries resulting in collective advantage for the regional countries. Chairman Senate stresses on synergising efforts for social and economic benefit at parliamentary & economic levels with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kirgizstan He expressed these views while talking to Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov. He said that decision of both the countries to enhance regional connectivity by establishing transportation and communication links would further boost the existing cordial relations at all the levels especially the people to people contact. He said that early implementation of the TAPI project would be for the benefit of both the countries paving the way for further cooperation in trade. He said that active friendship group at the Senate of Pakistan for Turkmenistan would further enhance bilateral parliamentary relations between the two countries. Both countries can also collaborate for similar stance on international issues, he added. The Ambassador responding to the Chairman agreed with his aspirations and emphasised for implementation on the agreed cooperation for enhancing the economic ties. In a third meeting, Chairman Senate said that Pakistan and Kirgizstan have good relations at parliamentary level and also enjoy cordial bilateral ties, however, economic cooperation needs to be further enhanced for mutual benefit of both countries. He said that the cooperation between the two sides at parliamentary forums is remarkable as both countries enjoyed historical relations and spiritual ties which can be traced back to centuries. The mutual exchange of the visits of the senior leadership of both the countries have also strengthened bilateral relations, however, there is huge potential for trade and economic cooperation. He said that the existing excellent political relations should be transformed into growing trade and economic relations. He said both the countries are rich in mineral resources, have high skilled human resources, excellent opportunities for developing industry and agriculture, attracting foreign investments for joint production and supply of goods, including those for export. Published in Daily Times, February 9th 2019.