Uzbekistan offers help to resolve energy crisis

ISLAMABAD: It is imperative the governments, people, and business communities of Uzbekistan and Pakistan spare no effort to jack up the volume of their two-way trade, which is far below its true potential, a statement said on Saturday. 

“Pakistan is a very important friend of  and his country wants to enhance bilateral ties in various fields including trade,” Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Rozukulov said this while speaking to the business community in the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Capital House here.

Uzbek ambassador to Pakistan, president of the FPCCI, Abdul Rauf Alam, and others attended the meeting.

“Pakistan can resolve its energy problem with the help of natural resources of his country,” the Uzbek deputy premier said adding his country is seriously considering joining CPEC, which is a game changing project.

“CPEC will not only benefit whole region but also positively impact lives of billions of people besides promoting Pakistani economy. We should push cooperation to the new heights.”

FPCCI president informed the meeting Pakistan is exporting pharmaceuticals, leather goods, agricultural products, milk, and sports goods to the brotherly country, while its imports from Uzbekistan include cotton, yarn, clothes, iron, steel plastic, telecommunications equipment, and electric items.”

“The friendly country is producing quality aircraft, cars and machinery, which were not being imported.”

Citing the great trade potential between the two nations, the FPCCI president called for the immediate formation of a Pakistan-Uzbekistan joint business council.

Moreover, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation was signed by the top trade bodies of both the countries.