By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Wednesday said regional connectivity was the key to drive economic growth and invited Turkmenistan to join efforts for boosting regional connectivity through air, land, and sea.
He stressed the need for mutual cooperation in the energy sector to ease out the energy requirements of the country.
He said this during a meeting with Atadjan Movlamov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan and Dean of Diplomatic Corps to Pakistan, and Hemra Annamuhammedov, Third Secretary of Turkmenistan, here at the Parliament House.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf expressed Pakistan’s high regard for its relationship with Turkmenistan and extended gratitude for the timely humanitarian assistance provided to the flood-affected people of Pakistan.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s vision of building sustainable and result-oriented engagement with the Central Asian Republics through its “Vision Central Asia” policy, which focused on five key areas, including political, trade and investment, energy and connectivity, security and defence, and people-to-people exchanges.
The speaker emphasized the importance of parliamentary exchanges between the two countries, recalling the visit of Mrs Akja Nurberdiyeva, former Chairperson of the Mejlis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan, to Pakistan in 2016.
He urged Turkmenistan to sign the Charter of the Parliamentary Assembly of Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) to further strengthen parliamentary ties.
With regards to trade and investment, the speaker underlined the need to enhance bilateral trade and investment, and invited Turkmenistan to take advantage of Pakistan’s Gwadar, Bin Qasim, and Karachi seaports for its trade connectivity with the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.
He also expressed Pakistan’s commitment to the timely completion of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and the TAP power transmission projects, and welcomed the productive meetings of the technical delegation led by Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik, during his visit to Turkmenistan in September 2022.
Ambassador Atadjan Movlamov expressed his satisfaction with the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries and registered his willingness for further strengthening of political, economic, and cultural ties.
The meeting was held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, and both sides expressed their resolve to work together for the mutual benefit of their respective countries and the region.
