President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday urged concerted steps to bolster the existing broad and deep relationship between Pakistan and Egypt, with a special focus on trade and investment ties.
“The government and the people of Pakistan highly value their relation with their Egyptian brethren and are eager to translate the full potential of this relationship for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries,” the president said in a one-on-one meeting with Egyptian President Dr Mohamed Morsi at the Presidency.
Giving a briefing about the two rounds of talks, President’s spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said the two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues and the situation in the Middle East.
The president, while warmly welcoming Dr Morsi on his maiden visit to Pakistan, congratulated him on the success of peaceful struggle for democratic change in Egypt and praised his efforts for democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights in Egypt.
Zardari wished every success to the government and the people of Egypt in realising the dream of a free, democratic and prosperous Egypt in a peaceful region and peaceful world.
The president said Pakistan and Egypt enjoyed traditional friendly relationship, which he said was rooted in common faith and cultural affinities.
“As an important Islamic country, Pakistan considers Egypt an important player in the region as well as in the Islamic world,” the president said, adding that Pakistan desired to expand, diversify and further strengthen our relations in all fields of bilateral relations.
President Morsi expressed his deep desire to cultivate close relations with Pakistan and stated that Pakistan and Egypt were two pillars of the Islamic World that had an important role to play in the Ummah as well as in the region.
The spokesman said the two leaders agreed to hold bilateral summit on biennial basis alternatively in Pakistan and Egypt and expressed confidence that the mechanism would not only boost bilateral relations, but would also give two countries an opportunity to coordinate on important regional and international developments.
The two leaders also agreed on holding the 4th Session of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in Islamabad later this year and called for increased people-to-people contacts that they believed were extremely important in cementing the bonds of friendship between the two countries.
Discussing the bilateral relations, the two leaders expressed satisfaction on the current state of ties and urged the need to further expedite efforts to fully realise the true trade potential by promoting greater business delegation exchanges, investment and facilitating entrepreneurs.
President Zardari also highlighted the various incentives and facilities being offered to investors that included investment in all economic sectors, allowing 100% foreign equity, no limit on foreign investment, equal treatment to foreign and domestic investments, complete ownership of the businesses, allowing free repatriation of profits and capitals besides generous tax and customs incentives for importing raw materials, plant and machinery into Pakistan.
He invited Egyptian investment in key sectors of the economy including infrastructure, energy, mining, textile, real estate and tourism.
Zardari hoped that the various MoUs and agreements inked with Egypt in all fields would give further impetus to the trade and investment ties, hence jacking up the current bilateral trade volume from the present $400 million to new heights.
He also proposed a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, which he said, would help increase the quantum of bilateral investment.
Discussing regional situation, President Zardari said at this difficult juncture while the Muslim and the Arab world faced great challenges and changes, the Muslim Ummah must shun differences and forge unity.
On the situation in Syria, Zardari said Pakistan and Egypt should work together closely for the common good of the Ummah and for peace in the region.
“Pakistan believes that Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected,” the president said, adding that any outside interference would only worsen an already complex situation.
The president’s spokesperson said Zardari also appreciated Egypt for supporting the causes of the Muslim Ummah.
The two Presidents also witnessed the signing of five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and one executive programme for further promoting cooperation between the two countries.
The MoUs signed between the two countries pertain to the cooperation in the field of money orders and international postal services, cooperation in the field of merchant shipping, cooperation between Board of Investment (BOI) of Pakistan and General Authority of Free Zones and Investment (GAFI) of Egypt, cooperation between Middle East News Agency (MENA) and Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and cooperation between Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority of Pakistan and Special Fund for Development (SFD) of Egypt.
The two countries also signed 3rd Executive Programme for Scientific and Technological cooperation between Pakistan and Egypt for the years 2013 to 2015.
In delegation level talks, Dr Morsi was accompanied by General Mohammad Abdul Fatah El-Sisi, commander-in chief of the Egyptian armed forces and Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Kamal Amr, Dr Essam Ahmed Mahmoud Elhaddad, Hatem Abdelhamid Mahmoud Saleh, Engineer Ateh Naguib, Ambassador Mohamed Raifaah El Tahtawy and Said Hindam.
The Pakistani side was represented by Salman Faruqui, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Senator Farhatullah Babar, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jillani and other senior officials.
