Minister for Defence Rana Tanveer on Wednesday said that Pakistan’s defence exports had doubled in a year – thanks to the state of the art equipment being manufactured by the country’s defence industry.
He stated this while meeting high-level delegates from around the world on the sidelines of the IDEAS-2014 at ExpoCenter. The delegations from China, Qatar, Turkey, Korea, Nigeria, Afghanistan, CzechRepublic, Kazakhstan, and Sudan called on the minister and appreciated the turn out of IDEAS-2014.
The minister stressed on greater cooperation in defence industry. He welcomed the joint ventures and agreements taking place between different world countries and Pakistan. Rana Tanveer said the Russian participation in IDEAS-2014 was very significant and Pak-Russian relations would pave the way to increase the exports of Pakistani defence products.
“We are optimistic about the cooperation between Pakistan and Russia. We have received good response from around the world and it is quite encouraging that participation of countries in IDEAS-2014 has increased as having representation of over 50 countries is a great achievement. This shows that this exhibition would further improve our export numbers,” he added.
Meanwhile, the minister met with the Afghan delegation. “Afghanistan must be happy to attend the exhibition. We want to see a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. We need to cooperate in bilateral areas and find ways of trade and cooperation. The new Afghan president is looking for cordial ties and Pakistan welcomes this approach,” he added.
Air Force Commander Major General Wahab and Brigadier Mohammad Amir Burki were part of the Afghan delegation. They said Afghanistan will be happy to cooperate with Pakistan. Tanveer said it was good news that Afghanistan was offering friendly ties with Pakistan which was quite welcoming.
Corps Commander Karachi Naveed Mukhtar also visited IDEAS-2014 and went to different stalls. “It is a great opportunity to host such a mega event and honour to welcome foreign companies to showcase their defence products. I appreciate the arrangements,” he added.
Around 256 foreign companies and 77 Pakistani firms are showcasing their products in IDEAS-2014. Badar Expo Solutions is the official event manager of IDEAS-2014.