ISLAMABAD: Japan-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship League (JPPFL) Chairman Seishiro Eto discussed bilateral relations including trade and investment with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday.
Eto called on the foreign minister at the Foreign Office and felicitated him on the assumption of his office.
Referring to the recent visit of Japan’s state minister for foreign affairs last month, Eto stressed that Pakistan-Japan relations were making historical progress. The two dignitaries expressed their satisfaction at current trajectory in the bilateral relations and agreed to maintain the momentum through continued high-level exchanges.
During the meeting, both sides also held in-depth discussions on the entire gamut of Pakistan-Japan bilateral relations and deliberated on the various possibilities of deepening existing ties in diverse areas including trade, investment, education and cultural cooperation.
The JPPFL chairman thanked the foreign minister and stated that he had been impressed by the feelings of goodwill in Pakistan for Japan and assured of his government’s continued support to contribute to enhancing trade and investment possibilities for Pakistan. Matters related to fixing the balance of payment, which is tilted towards Japan and increased Japanese investment in Pakistan also came under discussion.
Both sides exchanged views on the current developments in the region and reaffirmed their commitment to promoting the goals of peace and prosperity of the region.
The foreign minister underscored that Japan was one of Pakistan’s major development partner and had always supported Pakistan in testing times. He said that Japan has played an important role in the socio-economic development of the country, adding that Japan actively participated in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) forum, and hosted the FoDP Donors Conference in Tokyo in 2009.
Both sides also reviewed the existing economic cooperation between the two countries. Japanese development projects in Pakistan in social sectors like education and health and the promotion of investment in Pakistan by the Japanese companies also figured in the discussions.
The foreign minister thanked Eto and the members of his delegation for their long-standing support to bilateral parliamentary exchanges. He lauded the joint efforts of the two parliaments to deepen the bilateral friendly relations.
