ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan and Azerbaijan on Friday affirmed their commitment to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in energy, trade, connectivity, defence and people-to-people linkages.

These topics were discussed during a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and visiting Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, at Aiwan-i-Sadr.

Welcoming President Ilham Aliyev, President Zardari said that both countries enjoyed excellent relations and had a great scope of further improving ties in various areas of mutual interest.

He underlined the need for more regular engagements between the people and businessmen of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to cement bilateral ties.

President Zardari meets Ilham Aliyev; delegations from two sides discuss cooperation in oil and gas sector

He highlighted the importance of Gwadar port, suggesting that Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan could benefit from it for promoting regional trade, connectivity and tourism, besides bringing shared economic prosperity to the region.

Mr Zardari welcomed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, adding that the MoUs would give a new impetus to bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, commerce, tourism, mines and minerals, science and technology, law and justice, and culture.

On his part, President Ilham Aliyev said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed a high frequency of people-to-people exchanges and both the countries needed to promote business-to-business relations for enhancing economic relations.

He stated that Pakistan and Azerbaijan could also explore the possibility of working together in the renewable energy sector.

Later, President Zardari also hosted a banquet in honour of President Ilham Aliyev and members of his delegation, which was also attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, parliamen-tarians, diplomats, and journalists, at the President’s House.

Bilateral trade

On the side lines of the visit, a high-level official delegation of Azerbaijan held meeting with federal Minister for Petroleum and Water Resources Dr Musadik Malik to enhance bilateral trade and investment.

Dr Musadik Malik welcomed the Azerbaijan delegation, led by Azerbaijan Minister for Energy Parviz Shahbazov, and gave a detailed presentation on the investment opportunities in Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan aimed for diversified markets in the region and partner-

ing economic corridors stretching from Central Asia to Europe.

He highlighted the vast investment opportunities in mines and minerals, particularly gold and copper in Pakistan.

During the meeting, cooperation in oil and gas sector was also discussed. Dr Musadik said that Pakistan was a huge demand centre for energy and both countries could also together leverage the IT potential, especially artificial intelligence, machine learning and the human resource training.

The Azerbaijan side expressed its keen desire to begin working on proposals presented by Pakistani side for enhancing trade and, in this regard, resolved to strengthen working groups between the two countries.

Mr Shahbazov thanked Pakistan side for the detailed briefing on the investment opportunities. He underlined the importance of holding working groups meetings at an early date.

Both sides agreed to appoint focal persons, short list projects and present them to the leadership at an early date for their approval.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024