Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Pakistan this week will not only help strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries but will also help boost bilateral trade, according to local business people. Erdogan is scheduled to arrive in the capital Islamabad on Thursday for a two-day official visit — his fourth since 2002. “President Erdogan’s visit means a lot for Pakistan at a time, when the country is facing a series of challenges, mainly on economic front,” said Abdul Rashid Abro, a Karachi-based businessman and former president of Turkey-Pakistan Business Council. The current trade volume between the two countries is $900 million. Turkey and Pakistan are engaged in Strategic Economic Framework (SEF) that aims to boost the bilateral trade volume. Last year, Ankara presented its proposals on the SEF to Islamabad with an aim to enhance the bilateral trade five times from existing level. Turkey’s ambassador to Pakistan said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Islamabad this week would be a major step towards exemplary bilateral ties between two brotherly countries. Mustafa Yurdakul said the countries would sign several agreements to enhance cooperation in various sectors. “We will have some concrete documents to be signed during the visit, we will have our high-level strategic cooperation council meeting, which I can describe as a joint sitting of the two councils of ministers of respective countries — all the ministers and the leaders. They will have the opportunity to interact directly with their counterparts,” said Yurdakul. Erdogan will arrive in Islamabad on Thursday for a two-day official visit along with a high-level delegation. “More than 60 Turkish businessmen will be accompanying the president. So, this is also a very important event which will take our commercial and economic relationship to a new level,” he said.