ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Czech Middle-Asian Chamber of Commerce (CSOK) Thursday met Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and expressed interest to invest in the rail sector of Pakistan for its uplift.

General Mangers Operations of Pakistan Railways Junaid Qureshi briefed the 11-member Czech delegation about railway network in Pakistan besides highlighting the problems it had been facing in pursuit of making it a profit-oriented organization.

The CSOK delegation was headed by Miroslav Vana, Member of Parliament of Czech Republic and President of Chamber Jiri Nestaval.

Qureshi said Pakistan's railway sector needs huge investment and also has the potential to give positive outcome in future if its shortcomings are addressed. He suggested the delegation members to invest in rehabilitation of tracks, railway bridges, maintenance and purchase of locomotives and other relevant works.

The GM Operations highlighted the importance of planned Peshawar-Jalalabad track and said sought Czech cooperation to execute the vital project.

Minister for Railways also assured for all out cooperation to the delegation in future if they show willingness to invest in Pakistan's railway sector. He also suggested the visiting delegation to lease out 50 locomotives to Pakistan for trial and in case of satisfactory results, the government of Pakistan may enhance cooperation in this regard.

Both sides also agreed to meet again to discuss future prospects of the investment in the railways sector agreeing that it would benefit both the states.

The CSOK President said they were committed to assist Pakistan Railways to make it run on track of prosperity. He said Czech companies were also executing joint ventures in Pakistan in other sectors, expressing interest for investment in Peshawar-Jalalabad rail link.

Secretary Railway Board Syed Shahid Ahmed and other senior officials of the ministry were also present on the occasion.