Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan can jointly achieve CAREC’s development goals: PM

Lahore : Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan being members of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) can jointly achieve the goals in areas including transport, energy, and trade policy to alleviate poverty in the region.

Talking to Kojoshev Arzybek Orozbekovich, Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic here at the PM House, the Prime Minister said promotion of regional connectivity is one of the seven pillars of the government’s development strategy.

The Prime Minister said the government was actively pursuing this initiative which had the potential to integrate South Asia,China and Central Asia-the three engines of growth in Asia.

Welcoming the Kyrgyz delegation, the Prime Minister said Pakistan appreciated Kyrgyzstan government's progressive policies.

He said the people of Pakistan were happy to witness the progress and development of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The Prime Minister said Pakistan economy’s growth rate had risen by 4.84 percent during last three years and it now offered great investment opportunities for foreign investors.

He said Pakistan had embarked upon a major reform programme that aims at fiscal stabilization, mobilizing domestic resources,phasing out subsides, restructuring the power sector and other public sector enterprises and strengthening the social safety nets.

The Prime Minister said the role of CASA 1000 was important in redressing the power shortages in Pakistan and expressed satisfaction that the project was moving satisfactorily.

He mentioned that the recent meeting of Joint Working Group held in Dubai on December 5-8, 2016, took some important decisions which will ensure the project's timely completion.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the present volume of total trade between the two countries can be further enhanced and hoped that the third session of Pak-Kyrgyzstan JMC would prove fruitful in enhancing bilateral trade and economic relationships.

The Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was established in 1994 and the volume of trade between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan amounted to US $ 5.573 Million from 2011 to 2016.