Govt Plans to Increase Pakistan-Azerbaijan Trade to $2 Billion

Pakistan and Azerbaijan Thursday agreed to increase the bilateral investment up to US$2 billion in areas of mutual beneficial projects.

Speaking at a joint press stakeout with Azerbaijan President Illham Aliyev after witnessing signing of agreements and MoUs between the two countries, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “We talked about initial $2 billion investment to come into mutual beneficial projects.”

There is a huge potential in both sides to multiply this figure in years to come, and when the prime minister visits Azerbaijan this November, both sides will be ready to ink agreements worth $2 billion to start with, he had hoped.

He said he and Ninan had also talked about joint cooperation plus joint investments in the in-depth conversation they had had earlier in the day.

‘The volume of investments between two brother nations will always remain under $100 million; the amount does not reflect the strength of our brotherhood and friendliness in investing in the things being done together and equally,’ the prime minister says.

Prime minister expressed satisfaction over the bilateral meeting and said both the sides discussed on mutual trust and confidence wherein they let each other come to know about their determination for moving forward and going to higher levels of achievements in the field of trade and investment.

Meanwhile, he advocated that Pakistan had always backed Azerbaijan’s stand on the issue and the brotherly country had always been supportive of the struggle of millions of Kashmiris who offered colossal sacrifices for over seven decades to attain their right to self determination under the UN Security Council resolutions.

Recalling the President Aliyev’s visit in 2017, the tenure of then PM Nawaz Sharif, he said history was repeating as Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother was now guest with people of Pakistan.

The prime minister expressed the hope that the COP29 world leadership in Baku, Azerbaijan would be an important international event for all the developing countries, including Pakistan. “We are sure that with your able guidance, COP29 will meet the issues of climate change concerning the developing countries, like Pakistan.”

He said that the Government of Pakistan is impressed by the beautification of Baku, therefore will copy Baku.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev claimed brotherhood of two countries was based on deep feeling between peoples of two sides. “It’s a big plus, we are brothers, we are friends, and we assist each other on all issues that are international.”

“Our state forward on our support on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is the dedication towards our brotherhood and honor to the law of the world, as the rights of Kashmiris have been trampled and trashed for many years in the past, we respect that rights,” he said.

Continuing, he said UNSC resolutions clearly stated what was to be done with this issue, unfortunately UNSC resolutions did not have a mechanism of implementation.

“We are brothers and friends and we will always stand at your side as brothers and friends with your brothers in Kashmir and with international law and with justice and I have no doubt that the justice will prevail,” he added.

The two sides are looking at the projects for initial investment of $2 billion, he said. “We will build strong partnership not only on political level which we already had, but also on economic and trade investment level,” he said, adding that he and Paul had reviewed several projects in the area of energy, connectivity, infrastructure and defence industry during our today’s conversation.

MoUs

15 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and agreements were signed between Pakistan and Azerbaijan to promote bilateral cooperation in various aspects including trade, commerce, tourism, mines and minerals, science and technology, law and justice and regarding cultural exchange programs.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev at the PM House.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Consular Affairs, by Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Azerbaijan Deputy Foreign Minister Samir Sharifov.

Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, and Deputy Minister of Economy Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov signed Preferential Trade Agreement between the government of Azerbaijan and the government of Pakistan.

An MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Privatization Pakistan related to State property privatization was signed between Minister of Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan and Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sahib Mammadov.

Two governments of Azerbaijan and Pakistan also signed another agreement on Transit Trade.

It was also agreed for a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan and Minister of Law and Justice of Pakistan. Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar signed the MoC with Azerbaijan Minister for Defence Industry Vugar Mustafayev.

The Azerbaijan Minister of Energy and Petroleum Minister Dr Musadik Malik signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of mineral resources and geology between the government of Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

The Minister for Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar and Azerbaijan Minister of Foreign Affairs Samir Sharifov signed Cultural Exchange Program for the year 2024-2029 between Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

The two sides also signed an MoU in cooperation in the Information and Communication Technologies fields that has been signed by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of information Technology and Telecommunication of Pakistan.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov and Secretary Information Shahera Shaid signed an MoU on cooperation between Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) and Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting (CJSC).

In addition to this, twinning links were also agreed between Baku city and Islamabad and an MoU between Small and Medium Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan and SMEDA Pakistan was inked.

On side, a scientific and technological cooperation agreement between Governments of Pakistan and Azerbaijan was inked.

Secretary IPC Nadeem Irshad Kayani and Azerbaijan Minister of Defence Industry signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism between Government of Azerbaijan and Government of Pakistan.

Chairman Pakistan Academy of Letters Prof Dr Najeeba Arif and Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov signed an MoU on cooperation in the field of literature between the institute of literature named after Nizami Ganjavi of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and Pakistan Academy of Literature (PAL).

The government of Pakistan also signed the Air Services Agreement with Azerbaijan.