ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to enter into a trilateral transit trade agreement with Afghanistan to benefit from the Gwadar port facility and land routes.

A decision to this effect was reached at the second meeting of Pakistan-Uzbekistan Joint Ministerial Commission held in Tashkent on Dec 29-30, said an official announcement on Saturday.

A 10-member delegation led by Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi and comprising secretaries of economic affairs division and communication, additional secretary food and agriculture, adviser to the ministry of water and power and senior officials of commerce, interior and foreign affairs represented Pakistan.

Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in bilateral trade, scientific and technological fields, telecommunication, food and agriculture, and signed a joint protocol in this regard.

The two sides signed a protocol to organize mutual visits of business delegations, hold single-country exhibitions, and promote cooperation in the fields of water and power, science and technology, food and agriculture, tourism, culture, information technology and telecommunication.

The two sides entered into an understanding, in principle, that Pakistan would purchase cotton from Uzbekistan on a regular basis.

With a view to creating favourable conditions for bilateral trade, both sides agreed to develop cooperation between banking and financial institutions of the two states.

Pakistan offered technical and financial expertise in the textile sector and a credit line of $5 million to Uzbekistan for import of textile machinery and other engineering goods from Pakistan.

The two countries agreed to establish a joint committee on science and technology and start short-term training courses in various fields for each other.