Pakistan, Belarus agree to strengthen bilateral relations

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his Belarusian counterpart Andrey Kobyakov held a one-to-one meeting on Tuesday at the PM House and discussed issues of bilateral interest with particular focus on enhancing cooperation in trade, defence and culture. They agreed on strengthening ties at the governmental and people-to-people levels for the mutual benefit of their countries. The Belarusian Prime Minister who is on a three day official visit to Islamabad expressed interest to explore the areas of economy and humanitarian cooperation through launch of two Roadmaps.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the Pak Belarus Roadmap on Economic Cooperation would provide a robust framework for multi sectoral cooperation. The two sides agreed that there existed a potential for Pakistan and Belarus to collaborate in the fields of education, health, and science and technology. Prime Minister Nawaz recalled his visit to Minsk in August this year terming it productive and said the high level visits between the two countries had extensively contributed to strengthening of bilateral relations.
He mentioned that with working together, Pakistan and Belarus could enhance their bilateral trade volume up to US $60 million. He expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the first Pakistan Belarus meeting of the Joint Economic Commission on August 7th and added that the second meeting of the Pakistan Business Joint Business and Investment Forum and the inaugural session of Pakistan Belarus Business Council were most encouraging. Prime Minister Nawaz stressed to enhance economic cooperation in textile, agricultural equipment, heavy machinery, pharmaceutical, dairy products and vehicles. He mentioned that Parliamentary contacts were an important element of the bilateral relations and welcomed the formation of the “Working Group for Cooperation in the Belarusian Parliament with the Parliament of Pakistan.
He apprised Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov that the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan along with a delegation would visit Belarus soon. The two sides discussed a whole range of issues including cooperation in defence and defence production, counter terrorism and narcotics control. The need of collaboration in education, culture and people to people linkages also came under discussion.
Later, the two prime ministers chaired the delegation level meeting and emphasised on the follow up of the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) signed in the recent months. Prime Minister Nawaz urged upon the Belarusian investors to benefit from the incentives offered by Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones. In the field of culture, he suggested collaboration between the museums of two countries. He welcomed the establishment of a Belarus Cultural Centre at the National Library of Pakistan and expressed desire to establish a similar centre in Minsk.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan wanted friendly relations with all its neighbours and he highlighted the significance of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which he said would benefit the entire region. He welcomed Belarus to be part of this economic vision.
He also expressed gratitude for Belarusian support to Pakistan for its bid for re-election to the UNESCO Executive Board.
Pakistan and Belarus inked 18 accords of cooperation in diverse fields including the joint launch of two Roadmaps on economic and humanitarian cooperation. The two countries inked seven agreements, six MOUs and three protocols to agreements in addition to the two Programmes on Roadmaps. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his Belarusian counterpart Andrey Kobyakov signed the Programme titled “Roadmap for fast track and middle track economic cooperation between Pakistan and Belarus”.
The Programme on the “Roadmap of Belarusian Pakistani Humanitarian Cooperation year 2015 2020” was signed by Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov. The two prime ministers also signed an agreement between their governments on mutual allotment of the land of plots for their respective diplomatic missions in Islamabad and Minsk. The two countries agreed on roadmap for economic cooperation and vowed to increase their bilateral trade to US one billion dollars, with a focus on industrial cooperation, agriculture and infrastructure development.
The two leaders maintained that they had “a very productive round” of talks that reviewed progress and agreed on concrete steps to further enhance their bilateral cooperation. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said during the talks the two sides also discussed regional and global issues, and took decisions to further fortify their ties that encompass many new areas. He said it was the third high-level exchange between the two countries in the past six months and was reflective of the importance the two sides gave to their robust framework for future collaboration. “We decided to undertake several new initiatives, with particular emphasis on enhancing trade and investment relations,” he said.
Pakistan and Belarus had agreed on making a roadmap for future collaboration and identification of new areas of cooperation during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Minsk in August this year. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the economic roadmap has set a clear course of action for cooperation in various fields of trade and economy. “I am confident that this roadmap will lead us to broad and long lasting economic cooperation,” he said.
Prime Minister of Belarus Andrey Kobyakov said the focus of his visit to Pakistan was to enhance cooperation between the two countries in trade and investment. “We see Pakistan as a window for us to South Asia, while we can serve as window for Pakistan to Europe,” the Belarusian Prime Minister said. He said the roadmap for economic cooperation between the two countries would go a long way and help take bilateral trade to new heights. He said his country also looks forward to initiation of talks aimed at increasing trade, so as to optimise the structure of bilateral trade for mutual benefit and sustainable economic development.
Prime Minister Kobyakov offered establishment of Joint Ventures, production of Belarusian tractors, vehicles, road construction and mining equipment in Pakistan. He said the two sides also have scope for joint projects in agriculture, food and dairy sectors. Pointing to a trade of mere US $60 million, he said while keeping in view their strong political ties, it seems to be nothing more than a statistical error, however he expressed optimism that the two countries have all the pre requisites to raise it easily to US one billion dollars.
Prime Minister Kobyakov mentioned the cooperation on customs matters; inter-regional cooperation between provinces of the two countries, which had been agreed during the talks. Prime Minister Kobyakov said the two countries would move ahead from simple trade into a strong industrial cooperation. “We have extensive experience in construction and can help Pakistan in agriculture, forestry sectors besides assisting it in modernising its industry,” he said. He also offered cooperation in oil and gas fields, logistics, information technology, communications etc. He said a large business delegation was accompanying him and hoped extensive interaction with Pakistani counterparts would lead to mutually beneficial projects.
Asim Yasin adds: Meanwhile, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq called on the visiting Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov and matters pertaining to mutual interest and economic and diplomatic cooperation were discussed.
Kobyakov expressed his desire to build congenial relations between Belarus and Pakistan through enhanced economic and diplomatic ties. He felicitated Sadiq for being re-elected as the Speaker and said his election by an overwhelming majority of the legislature reflects highest regard and trust in his persona as the custodian of house and is also tantamount to a tribute to his services for strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.