Pak-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework aims to enhance bilateral economic cooperation with particular focus on trade

January 16, 2019: Finance Minister Asad Umar here on Wednesday chaired preliminary meeting of the Committee for formulating the proposed Pak-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework.

Federal Minister for Defence Production, Zubaida Jalal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform, Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, Aamir Mehmood Kiani,  Federal Minister for Privatization Division, Muhammad Mian Soomro, Federal Minister for National Health Services and Minister of State /Chairman BoI, Haroon Sharif were present in the meeting.

Finance Minister Asad said that proposal for establishment of the framework was discussed and agreed with the Turkish side during the recent visit of Prime Minister to Turkey. The framework aims to enhance bilateral economic cooperation with particular focus on trade and investment. The Minister made special mention of the exemplary headway that Turkey has made in the realm of tourism and said Pakistan could greatly benefit from its experience in developing its own tourism sector.

During the meeting the current level of Pak-Turkey economic cooperation and the existing structure and mechanism for such cooperation were discussed at length. Ministers attending the meeting and senior officials of various Ministries presented their views on the proposed framework and its related aspects. Besides trade and economy, the spheres of health, defence production, aviation, tourism, housing and mineral exploration were also highlighted for strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The Finance Minister directed the Ministries concerned along with the BoI to provide their inputs for the proposed framework within two weeks which will be consolidated by the Economic Affairs Division as a draft document and subsequently finalized to be shared with the Turkish side. The Minister added that the framework would help boost the existing Pak-Turkey cooperation to a a much stronger level.