Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday said promotion of trade relations with Turkey was his priority and the people of Pakistan would traverse the journey to progress and prosperity with their Turk brethren.
Shahbaz said the Pakistan-Turkey relations were deep-rooted and based on sound foundation while promotion of love and mutual cooperation between the people of the two countries was the worthwhile lesson of history and “the joint measures in that direction will ultimately, result in the achievement of the goal of progress and prosperity”.
He was speaking at the signing ceremony of four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between the Turk Finance Ministry, Exim Bank and the Punjab government at Municipality Convention Center on the last day of his visit to Turkey.
These MoUs pertained to intelligence, traffic system, rapid bus transit, Punjab Skills Development Funds, Bayhez Holding and Punjab Vocational Training Council.
The chief minister said he was returning from Turkey with high hopes of Turkey helping improve the civic amenities especially for the people of Punjab, reform the police system, and strengthen the infrastructure.
Calling the setting up of new vocational institutes with Turkey’s cooperation a milestone which would help impart various skills to the youth and enable them achieve self sufficiency and play their role in national development.
He said guidance would be sought from Turkey for the uplift of transport sector and joint measures would be taken for the provision of modern and affordable transport facility to the masses.
Meanwhile, the chief minister attended a signing ceremony of an agreement between the Punjab Vocational Training Council and Turkish Training School in Istanbul under which the Turkey-Pakistan institution would give vocational training certification of European standard and its technical graduates would be able to avail job opportunities in the Middle East and Europe.
Punjab Vocational Training Council Chairman Faisal Khan and Irfan Aksoy signed the agreement on behalf of Punjab and Turkey. Khawaja Ahmad Hasaan, Hafiz Abdul Nauman, Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmad, ambassador of Pakistan in Turkey, secretaries of Finance, Transport and Information departments were present.
