Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Pakistan Barlybay Sadykov has said that his country has drafted a road map aimed at intensifying Pakistan-Kazakhstan bilateral economic cooperation.
In an interview to Dispatch News Desk (DND) News Agency, Sadykov said the document was largely about a set of measures that were to push forward trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
“Our countries have never questioned the need for developing and enhancing their bilateral ties, no matter of what cooperation area we are talking about. It means that Pakistan and Kazakhstan have no political hindrances whatsoever to increase the volume of their cooperation bonds,” he said.
Both Pakistan and Kazakhstan have to constantly examine in a systematic way the cooperation potential in order to identify and respond to opportunities for improving the cooperation as much as possible, Sadykov said.
“Kazakhstan is also keen to be aware of Pakistan’s vast expertise in combating terrorism, which is another area of cooperation.”
He said the trade turnover between Pakistan and Kazakhstan in January-August of 2018 amounted to US$ 21.7 million. “The Pakistani export to Kazakhstan largely consists of precious stones and jewelry, textile, chemical and pharmaceutical products, agricultural and food goods, vegetables, shoes, leather items, sport and medical equipment and construction materials,” the ambassador said.
On the other hand, Sadykov added, Islamabad’s imports from Kazakhstan included construction and materials, food, machinery and equipment, fertilizers, coal, iron and nonferrous metals.
“Pakistan and Kazakhstan have some opportunities to boost their trade and investment ties, which are to be fully exercised in a befitting way.”
He further said that people-to-people contacts between countries in the contemporary globalising world were of extreme importance to keep interstate relationship safer and more predictable. “This is even to say that degree of this sort contacts is a certain a marker of what this relationship is about in terms of its depth and cooperative nature. This approach is totally applicable for accessing Pak-Kazakhstan relations as well.”
