Staff Report
Islamabad: Pakistani Industrialists can Exports their goods via Kyrgyzstan to Europe and other western Markets, Erik Beishembiev.
The Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mr. Erik Beishembiev has offered the Pakistani traders and investors to use Kyrgyzstani Markets for exporting their goods directly to Europe and other countries.
Addressing to the RoundTable Conference convened by Lahore Center for peace research, H.E Erik Beishembiev said that Kyrgyzstan is dynamically developing and foreign investors are widely presented. Investment in Kyrgyz republic is easy and profitable. Kyrgyzstan is now focused on its high Quality and environmental friendly agricultural products, organic vegetable and fruits, meat, dairy products and honey. He said that for several years,Kyrgyzstan has been successfully exporting Kyrgyz honey to Europe and Arab countries.
Kyrgyz Ambassador said that Kyrgyzstan attach great importance to the development of economic cooperation visa to Pakistan in order to promote greater economic relation between both countries.Kyrgyzstan is interesting in cooperating Pakistan to handle energy crisis and want to implement the great Central Asia-South Asia power project CASA-1000. Erik Beishembiev emphasized on the renewal of transport deals within Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan for multilateral agreement on transit transports between Pakistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan as a part of CPEC. This will bring our countries more closer, he said.
He said that bilateral trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan is currently low. Current volume of trade between two countries is 4 billion dollars and Pakistan’s investment in Kyrgyzstan is about 3.5 billion dollars. He reiterated that priority areas for economic cooperation between both countries includes medicine and pharmaceutical sector, electricity production and supplying, mining, food, textile and IT industry. He said that both countries need to intensify people to people contacts and to spread more information about both cultures. Lack of direct air and road transport between both countries is also a hurdle for economic cooperation between both countries, he said.
Talking to the Conference, former ambassador, foreign secretary of Pakistan and Chairman Lahore Center for Peace Research Institute, Shamshad Ahmad Khan said that Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan enjoy not only a common history but enjoy cordial relations and have exchanged frequent high level visits since 1991. He emphasized that Present trade volume is not at par with the tremendous trade potential of the two countries and the whole region of central Asia. The trade volume between two countries is just 4 million dollars right now. Former foreign secretary of Pakistan said that Since the beginning of Pak karghys relations, both countries have signed over 35 MOUs, but in practice concrete steps are not taken by both sides. Trade and economic relation is one area that both countries should focus and make the MOUs working, said Shamshad Khan. The chairman of Lahore Center for Peace Research said that besides several other international bodies Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan are also partners in ECO and Shinghai Cooperation Organization. Both countries have tremendous potential to work together and building a common future of progress and prosperity.
