ISLAMABAD: Atadjan Movlamov, Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Pakistan and Dean of Diplomatic Corps has said that Turkmenistan and Pakistan have huge potential of bilateral trade that can be enhanced through people-to-people contacts.

He said Turkmenistan was rich in energy and could meet energy needs of Pakistan, adding Turkmenistan wanted more access through the sea, as it was a landlocked country. He said transit trade was important for his country, as the shortest route of trade was through Karachi and Gwadar ports. He said this while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The Ambassador said Turkmenistan was producing electricity at a very cheap rate and gave a detailed presentation on the TAPI project, which would help Pakistan to meet the energy needs of its growing population. He said both countries should be connected through optical fibre cable by Arabian Sea and Pakistan could benefit millions of dollars from it. He said that both countries had 30th years of diplomatic relationship and expressed a desire to strengthen those relations through trade and investment.

Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI said Pakistan and Turkmenistan enjoyed mutually respectful and cordial relations, which were supported by history, culture and religion. He stressed that both countries should focus on enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations as they had good potential to do trade in many items. He said CPEC provided a good opportunity to increase bilateral cooperation and shift the focus of the relationship to address the socio-economic challenges, build economic linkages and enhance bilateral trade. Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said Pakistan and Turkmenistan should facilitate frequent exchange of trade delegations and organise single country exhibitions on reciprocal basis to promote trade ties. He highlighted the connectivity issue and suggested that one ‘transport and goods company’ should be established to solve the logistic problems between the two countries. He also suggested a long-term visa for businessmen to facilitate frequent exchange of trade delegations from both sides. He termed it important to establish air, road and railway connectivity between Pakistan and Central Asian Republics to improve trade relations. He underscored the importance of establishing road link via Istanbul, Turkmenistan and Karachi, which was the shortest route of six days for transport, even at a speed of 50 km/hour, whereas transportation of goods through sea took about 35 days besides incurring huge freight cost.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President said that ICCI was planning to organise ECO Business Forum in which diplomats and relevant government officials shall be invited to discuss important issues including TAPI project and developing direct links between Pakistan and Turkmenistan.—PR