Daily Times

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Friday said enormous economic potential existed between Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which needed to be utilised for mutual benefit of both the countries.

He also stressed the need to establish air links between both the capitals for fully realising that potential. He expressed his desire to further strengthen bilateral relations through promoting parliamentary and commercial cooperation. He expressed these views while talking to Ambassador of Kazakhstan Akan Rakhmatlin, who met with the Speaker at Parliament House, today.

The Speaker said that strong fraternal bonds exist between Pakistan and Kazakhstan that are built on strong foundations of religion, brotherhood, history and culture. He emphasised the need to promote cooperation in the socio-economic sectors between the two brotherly countries. He said that the two countries have enormous opportunities to promote cooperation in trade, energy, tourism, agriculture and other sectors. He said that trade volume between the two countries does not commensurate the opportunities in both countries, therefore, needed to be improved. He said that Kazakhstan’s role in regional peace and stability was of the utmost importance.

He said that parliamentary diplomacy could play an important role in expanding cooperation between the two countries. Sstressing the need for closer ties between the two countries’ parliament, Asad Qaiser said that the parliamentarians of both countries could play an important role in furthering bilateral relations. He told the Ambassador that the Pak-Kazakh Friendship Group in the National Assembly could play a vital role in promoting relations between the two countries’ parliaments. He said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan share commonality of views on regional and international issues and had always supported each other on global forums.

Referring to the investment opportunities in Pakistan, Speaker Assad Qaiser said that the present government had introduced pro-investment policies in the country. He said visa policy for the business community intending to visit Pakistan had been relaxed and visa issuance had been facilitated on arrival. He said that Kazakh investors could take benefit of those facilities and invest in Pakistan. Establishing air links between capitals of both the courtiers would also play a significant role in improving our economic and trade volume.

The Kazakhstan Ambassador Akan Rakhmatlin thanked the Speaker, saying that Pakistan was an important country in the region and Kazakhstan attached great importance to its friendly relations with Pakistan. He said that his government wanted to promote cooperation with Pakistan in the all sectors of economy. He appreciated Pakistan’s role in promoting development and prosperity in the region and for establishing peace and security. He agreed with the Speaker’s proposal to promote relations between the two countries’ Parliament, saying parliamentary diplomacy could play a key role in bringing the two nations closer. He further said that direct air connectivity between Islamabad and Almaty could promote trade and tourism in both countries.