Azerbaijan president hails tax exemption on rice import from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has said that the decision to grant tax exemption for five years on importing rice from Pakistan and undertaking its import was the outcome of his recent meetings with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on various occasions.

He was speaking at an international conference titled: “Along the Middle Corridor: Geopolitics, Security and Economy” held at the ADA University, Baku. During the meetings with Pakistan’s prime minister, agenda of bilateral relations was also discussed extensively.

The Azerbaijan president said he discussed with Pakistan’s prime minister the prospects of further intensifying the bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the decision over special regulations for rice from Pakistan was a reflection of that.

He said they had decided to take this step in order to stimulate the growth of mutual trade between the two countries. He had discussed with the prime minister what kind of goods they could provide to each other, he said. “Why should we buy rice from some other place if we have high quality rice in the brotherly country? So, that decision was clearly based on our brotherly relations,” the president said.

President Aliyev said that his country enjoyed excellent relations with Pakistan. “We are very grateful to Pakistan for continuous support which the country demonstrates with respect to Azerbaijan-Armenia war.”

“During the times of occupation, during the war, and after liberation of our territories, Pakistan was always with us. And this political and moral support is highly appreciated by the people of Azerbaijan.” He said that he knew that the Gwadar Port of Pakistan was transforming into a big international hub for trade and business. And to connect it with their infrastructure was not a difficult thing, as they had to properly address the issue of tariffs, legal framework, coordination on regulation and to have teamwork.