Daily Times

Pakistan and Bahrain are going to sign an agreement for enhancing economic and trade cooperation during the 2nd session of Pak-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission (PBJMC). The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Board of Investment (BOI) of Pakistan and Economic Development Board, the Kingdom of Bahrain would be signed during the 2nd session of Pak-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission on July 28-29 in Manama, Bahrain, said a press release issued by BOI on Monday.

The objective of the MoU is to enable both countries to develop and undertake collaborative activities and projects; share knowledge and have integrated technical exchange and assistance in areas of mutual interest. The Bahraini side will be chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani and co-chaired by Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi from Pakistan. The delegation from Pakistan will comprise several high officials from board of investment, petroleum division, ministry of commerce, ministry of economic affairs and ministry of overseas Pakistanis and human resource development.

The meeting will focus on bilateral cooperation in various sectors including defense, economic, commerce, finance, banking, industry, public health, overseas employment, higher education, science and technology, information, culture and arts, agriculture and livestock, cultural cooperation and parliamentary exchanges. In regards to promoting trade and business development, some sectors of interest included manufacturing, financial services, tourism, healthcare and education, logistics, information and communication technology and vocational training.

Board of Investment (BOI) being the premier investment promotion agency of Pakistan working under the administrative control of the prime minister’s office was mandated to promote both local and foreign investment. Previously, the 1st session of the Pak-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was held on February 5-6, 2017, at Islamabad. During the first session, there was a consensus that the volume of bilateral trade is much below the potential of both countries and future prospects. Pakistani side also offered Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Pakistan for investors of Bahrain, which was well received by the Bahraini side.

The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $117.23 million in 2019-2020. Pakistan’s exports to Bahrain include rice, cotton yarn, textured yarn, printing ink, etc. Whereas, major imports from Bahrain include ferrous waste and scrap, iron or steel and petroleum bitumen.