Pak- Kazakhstan agrees to sign transit trade agreement: Ambassador Yerzhan

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17 (APP): Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin said a transit trade agreement between Pakistan and Kazakhstan is expected to be signed soon to accelerate the bilateral trade.
Ambassador as Chief Guest in a seminar organized by ‘Pakistan in the World’ in collaboration with the Centre of Pakistan and International Relations (COPAIR), said that air, railway and road links are very important for regional economic connectivity, for which a lot of progress has been made in both countries.
The Ambassador said that Kazakhstan’s national airline SCAT will start its operations to major cities of Pakistan including Islamabad and Karachi from January 2023, said a news release.
The Ambassador of Kazakhstan said that direct flights between the two countries will strengthen mutual economic and trade relations, along with the possibility of improvement in bilateral tourism.
The Ambassador said that the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev will soon visit Pakistan and it will be very important in developing close relations between the two countries.
On the occasion, he said that the Minister of Commerce and Industry of Kazakhstan likely to visit Pakistan in December and he will also discuss mutual trade and Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two countries.
He said that the Joint Working Group is already working for the improvement of economic relations and regional economic integration in Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which is an excellent forum for mutual discussions.
Yerzhan Kistafin said that the Kazakhstan region believes in regional connectivity, and in this regard, mutual economic integration of the South and Central Asian regions will lead to prosperity in the region.
He said that the work is going on for the connection between the business communities of the two countries and Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Sargodha Chamber of Commerce and Industry will visit Kazakhstan next month and review the business and trade opportunities there.
He said that the current volume of mutual trade between the two countries is $197 million, which can easily be taken up to $ 1 billion.
He said that information technology, pharmaceutical, textiles and agriculture and food sectors are very important in mutual trade.
The Ambassodor said that major changes have taken place in the global economic scenario, which can improve the livelihood of a country.
He said that the large population of Pakistan and Kazakhstan consists of youth and both countries can benefit from it.
He said that Kazakhstan is the largest economy in the Central Asian region where there is a huge economic potential.
He said that sport is an important sector in both countries in which new ways of mutual cooperation could be opened and sports diplomacy is extremely important.