Pakistan, Belarus to work together for peace, says Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Terming Pakistan an investment-friendly country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday invited investors from across the world to avail the benefit of an excellent environment for foreign investment in Pakistan.
He said this while attending a ceremony at the PM House where 15 agreements and nine memoranda of understanding were singed with Belarus.Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was also present.
Nawaz maintained that there was a wide scope to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus and called upon the foreign investors to come forward for the purpose. important agreements and MoUs would provide a structured framework for future collaboration and added that he looked forward to several joint ventures in various areas.
Nawaz said the Pakistan-Belarus Business Forum would benefit the entrepreneurs of both the countries. He said Belarus was an important country and Pakistan attached high importance to its bilateral relations. The prime minister termed talks “very productive” and said it focused on bilateral relations in all fields, particularly on trade, industry, agriculture, investment, culture, education and people-to-people contacts.
He said the two sides agreed on several new initiatives, besides intensifying inter-parliamentary relations and willingness to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremism, narcotics, and human trafficking.
Nawaz said the two sides discussed regional and global issues and it was agreed to develop inter-regional relations to work for shared objective of peace and prosperity.“We also agreed to continue our cooperation with international organizations and work for the UN Reform process in a manner that makes the world body more democratic, efficient and effective,” he said. He said Pakistan was keen to forge closer ties with Belarus in all fields including trade, economy, defense and culture.
Earlier, he warmly received the President of Belarus at the PM House and held exclusive and delegation level talks covering a whole range of bilateral matters.He said the current bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $60 million and was not commensurate with its potential. He said there was a great scope for increasing economic relations in fields of textile, agricultural equipment, heavy machinery, tyres, pharmaceutical, dairy products and transport.
He said Pakistan was desirous of enhancing its collaboration with Belarus in the field of defense. “We need to explore possibilities for cooperation in the fields of culture and education,” the prime minister said.
He also offered condolences on the death of president’s mother last week. The visit of the president of Belarus was rescheduled owing to the death of his mother and this was the first visit by him to Pakistan.
The prime minister was supported by federal ministers Khurram Dastagir Khan, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Pervaiz Rashid, Adviser to the PM on National Security Sartaj Aziz, SAPM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Chairman BOI Mifta Ismail and Secretary Foreign Affairs Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry.
In his observations, the president of Belarus pointed that important agreements had been inked between the two countries that would go a long way towards bringing the two countries closer in future.
He invited delegations from different sectors in Pakistan to visit Belarus before the expected visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Belarus in August this year to help identify areas of common interest.
President Lukashenko noted that Pakistan was an important country and said Belarus would provide the most beautiful location to Pakistan for its embassy in Minsk.He invited the Pakistani entrepreneurs to invest in different areas in Belarus.
He said joint ventures in textiles and garments can be established that can be exported to the EU countries on competitive rates. The president of Belarus is leading a large delegation that includes Deputy Prime Minister Semashko Vladimir, Minister for Foreign Affairs Makei Vladimir, Assistant to the President of Belarus Bryliov Valery and several other high ups. President Lukashenko returned to his country on the conclusion of his trip Friday evening.