In Tashkent, PM Imran calls for strengthening trade ties with Uzbekistan

TASHKENT, JUL 15: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for strengthening trade ties with Uzbekistan during a two-day official visit to the country.

Addressing the first Pakistan-Uzbekistan Business Forum, the prime minister highlighted the relations between the two countries, stating that they go back "centuries".

"It is personally a great pleasure for me to visit Uzbekistan, a country which we are connected to culturally, historically and spiritually," he said.

He assured the business community that this relationship was just beginning to grow, voicing his appreciation for the gracious welcomed that had been extended to him upon his arrival.

"I have complaints from different business houses on my mobile phone, asking why they weren't invited on this trip," he said, adding that there was a lot of "enthusiasm" in Pakistan regarding this.

"Our business and trade relationship is going to depend on how quickly we are able to connect with each other. The Trans Afghan Railway project is the most important project for Uzbekistan and Pakistan," he said.

"For Pakistan, it connects us to Central Asia, to Uzbekistan which is the biggest of the Central Asian republics and beyond."

Commenting on the situation in Afghanistan, the premier said that Pakistan wanted a political settlement in the neighbouring country for "mutually beneficial" connectivity between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. "For the business community, it will raise the standard of living in both the countries," he said.

He said that he was a student in England when the European Union was formed and he had noted that the standard of living went up in all the countries which became a part of the bloc.

"Their trade increased with their neighbours and the standard of living went up. This is why this trip is important for us, because of the connections that our business community will make with your business community."

He said that he was informed that many Pakistani business houses had already signed major contracts a day earlier, specifically in the textile sector. "We are all hoping that the connections between the two countries will get deeper by the time we go back," he said.

He said that the government was working on ensuring frequent flights between the countries.

PM Imran arrives in Tashkent

Earlier today, the premier arrived in Tashkent accompanied by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi and National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf.

According to Radio Pakistan, talks between the leadership of the two countries will cover the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with a particular focus on trade, economic cooperation and connectivity.

The leaders will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

During the visit, a number of agreements and MoUs will be signed in areas of mutual interest, including transportation of goods, cooperation between chambers of commerce of the two countries, trade, education, culture and tourism, the report said.

On the invitation of the Uzbek president, the prime minister will participate in the International Conference on Central and South Asia Regional Connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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First shipment from Uzbekistan under multilateral treaty arrives

ISLAMABAD, MAY 13: The first shipment under the Convention on International Transport of Goods for traffic-in-transit of goods across the border reached Pakistan from Uzbekistan via Afghanistan in 48 hours, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Razak Dawood announced on Wednesday.

Islamabad signed the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets in August 2015, which is a multilateral treaty that entails no payment of customs duties and taxes. Pakistan ratified the convention in January 2016.

Under the convention, the first cargo from Pakistan to Uzbekistan reached its destination last week.

“The MOC (Ministry of Commerce) is pleased to inform that a new milestone has been achieved with the first-ever truck from Uzbekistan reaching Pakistan under the TIR Convention,” the adviser said.

It took the truck 48 hours to reach Torkham via Afghanistan

Mr Dawood went on to say that this was the result of collaboration between the transport companies of the two sides. “This is the beginning of a new era where trucks from both sides will take trade cargo to and from Karachi and Gwadar ports,” he further said.

On May 11, 2021 a cargo truck with Uzbek licence plate safely crossed the Afghan transit route in two days and reached the Torkham checkpoint near Peshawar. After the completion of customs clearance, the truck will reach the importer in Faisalabad.

The vehicle transports from Uzbekistan processed leather products (wet blue) for Pakistani leather factories. More Uzbek export goods like coal, mineral fertilisers and textiles have been planned for regular direct delivery to Lahore, Karachi, Taxila and Faisalabad.

An official announcement said that the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Pakistan together with Pakistani transport company Best Trans Pvt Ltd and Uzbek freight forwarding company Asad Trans for the first time implemented a pilot trans-Afghan logistics project for direct delivery of Uzbek export goods to Pakistan through the territory of Afghanistan.

As the joint action of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Islamabad and the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan, the partners of Asad Trans and Best Trans Pvt Ltd since January this year began working on the project for direct delivery of Uzbek goods to Pakistani cities through Afghanistan according to the “supplier’s warehouse — importer’s warehouse” scheme.

The specified transit transportation of Uzbek goods is the implementation of trans-Afghan transport and logistics project initiated by the president of Uzbekistan.

The successful implementation of the project significantly reduces cost of transportation of Uzbek goods, including shipping at Uzbek-Afghan border and subsequently at Afghan-Pakistani border, in accordance with TIR Carnet Convention dated 1975, members of which are Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Partners of Best Trans Pvt. Ltd and Asad Trans are planning to increase the number of freight vehicles up to 50 units by the end of the year to ensure smooth circulation of goods by Uzbek trucks.

According to chairman of Best Trans Pvt Ltd Ramiz Rabbani, the entry of the first Uzbek truck into the territory of Pakistan is a historical event, since before that in the Uzbek-Pakistani economic relations, the delivery of Uzbek export goods directly to Pakistan through the freight transport of Uzbekistan was not implemented.

According to him, the expected signing between Uzbekistan and Pakistan of intergovernmental agreements on preferential and transit trade will give an impetus for development of interregional freight circulation through the trans-Afghan route.

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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PAK, UZBEK FRIENDSHIP: Pakistan seeks to boost trade, defence ties with Uzbekistan

ISLAMABAD/TASHKENT, APR 16: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev Wednesday held wide-ranging talks and exchanged views on bilateral, regional and international issues.

In their first virtual summit, the two leaders reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations with particular focus on political, trade, security and defence, educational and cultural domains.

Prime minister Imran Khan underlined the importance of enhancing political and diplomatic linkages, fast tracking trade and economic cooperation, ensuring early finalization of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Transit Trade Agreement (TTA), increasing security and defence cooperation, and taking steps to deepen mutual collaboration in the fields of education, culture and tourism.

He also underscored the importance of rail, road and air connectivity and highlighted the enormous potential that existed in diverse fields to build an expanded mutually-beneficial partnership.

The prime minister highlighted Pakistan’s economic security paradigm and the shifting focus to geo-economics and also stressed that Central Asia was a region of particular focus in this vision, a prime minister office media wing press release said.

During the summit, the level of progress on the Trans-Afghan Railway Line Project, agreed between Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan earlier this year, was reviewed.

The project would be a first step in linking the Central Asian transport network with Pakistani seaports of Gwadar, Karachi and Qasim.

Prime minister Imran Khan said once completed, the initiative would transform the geo-economic dynamics of the entire regime.

The two leaders also discussed important global and regional matters of mutual interest, and reaffirmed the commitment to continue supporting each other at all international and regional fora, including the UN, OIC, SCO and ECO. Prime minister Imran Khan apprised on the latest situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), shared Pakistan’s perspective on issues of peace and security in South Asia, and underlined the imperative of peaceful resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.

He also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate the Afghan peace process for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. He stressed that this historic opportunity must be seized by the Afghan parties to achieve an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive negotiated political settlement. The prime minister also underscored the importance of countering Islamophobia and promoting inter-faith harmony.

They also reiterated their determination to maintain momentum of high-level exchanges and further enhance the upward trajectory of the relationship.

The two sides highlighted the depth of Pakistan-Uzbekistan relations rooted in common faith, shared history and cultural affinities and also agreed to encourage more people-to-people contacts including through spiritual (ziyarat) tourism.

Following agreements/MoUs were signed on the eve of the virtual summit:

The MoU for developing further cooperation in the field of agriculture, agreement on mutual recognition in the fields of conformity assessment of products, standardization, metrology and technical assistance and MoU on defence cooperation.

President Mirziyoyev reiterated his invitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan to attend the high-level international conference on regional connectivity, to be held in Tashkent in July this year.

The prime minister thanked President Mirziyoyev and reiterated his invitation to him to visit Pakistan at the earliest convenience.

The two leaders expressed confidence that the understandings reached during the virtual summit would further deepen bilateral cooperation and contribute towards forging a stronger, multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries. It was agreed to continue the summit-level political dialogue in future. A joint declaration was adopted at the conclusion of the summit.

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COURTESY dailytimes

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Pak, Uzbek Friendship: Speakers highlight new areas of cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan

ISLAMABAD, MAR 25: An Online International Conference on “Regional Connectivity Strategy: Pakistan & Uzbekistan-A New Regional Commitment" was jointly organized by the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad, and the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The online conference was commenced with the welcome remarks by Aybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Pakistan.

He appreciated the initiative of organizing the conference & expressed his gratitude to the institutions for their participation in enhancing bilateral ties between Uzbekistan & Pakistan. He also mentioned that this conference will identify new areas of cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan and also suggest the role of both countries in Afghanistan peace process.

In his opening remarks, Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad stated that Regional connectivity is the key catchword in today’s political and economic discourse. Pakistan has a cultural and religious affinity with the Central Asian Region and in this aspect, Pakistan-Uzbekistan bilateral relations have significantly improved in recent times. He emphasized that it is the need of the hour to effectively implement and execute the practical aspects of joint projects that interconnect all regional partners.

Mr. Akramjon Nematov, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan also shared his point of view. He highlighted that Pakistan and Uzbekistan must support bilateral dialogue for the Afghan peace process. This support should also be extended and highlighted on all international platforms as well.

This will initiate a new paradigm of international trade, regional connectivity, and economic cooperation in the region. Furthermore, it will become a pathway for sustainable development and progressive economic growth in Afghanistan. He appreciated Pakistan’s vision for building and developing bilateral ties between Pakistan and Uzbekistan to maximize benefits and to capitalize on the geographical importance of this region.

Prof. Dr. Shabir Ahmad Khan, Director of Area Study Centre (Russia, China & Central Asia), University of Peshawar highlighted that For Pakistan connectivity with Uzbekistan means connectivity with all other CARs.

Pakistan is naturally facing Central Asia and considers itself part of the process of regionalism reinvigorated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Central Asia.

He also mentioned that it is also important to harmonize and coordinate cross-border policies for smooth border crossing between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It will result in Pakistan and Uzbekistan maximally benefit from the regional integration plans like CAREC, BRI, Eurasian Union, and ECO due to their significant geographies in respective regions.

He suggested faculty/scholar exchanges, cultural exhibitions, book fairs, movies, plays and sports, and direct flights between the two countries for a positive impact on overall relations.

Alisher Kadirov, Head of the Department of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan discussed possibilities of Uzbekistan and Pakistan cooperation for the peace process in Afghanistan.

He emphasized that Uzbekistan has always wished for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Economic and regional cooperation between Central Asia and South Asia is important for peace and stability in Afghanistan and the entire region.

He also emphasized that there are significant cultural ties between Uzbekistan and Pakistan. These cultural ties must be explored and highlighted by initiating cultural exchange programs between both countries. He also briefly discussed the positive impacts of the Mazar-e-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar rail route and its potential role in the economic development of the region.

Mr. Timur Rakhimov, Head of Department of the International Institute of Central Asia suggested measures for the Afghanistan peace process. He was of the view that first and foremost, dialogues and negotiations must take place on a national and regional level. The International community and neighbors of Afghanistan can play a significant and crucial role in the smooth peace process for Afghanistan.

He emphasized that the people of Central Asia and Afghanistan share a mutual bond based on culture, religion, and traditions. Today, Afghanistan is seen as the key element for enhanced international transport that will eventually connect Central Asia and South Asia. Furthermore, the implementation of the Mazar-e-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar rail route will provide an opportunity for mutually beneficial partnerships.

Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Member Board of Experts, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad and Regional Geopolitical Analyst stated that Uzbekistan-Pakistan bilateral relations have been further strengthened during recent times because of the better political understanding, improvement in bilateral trade, phenomenal rise to tourism and joint efforts to bring peace and harmony in the region especially in Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have been jointly working to achieve sustainable regional connectivity by avoiding spillover repercussions of the end game in Afghanistan. Both countries have been pursuing an Afghan own & Afghan-led solution for the future of Afghanistan, especially after the US withdrawal.

He emphasized that Afghanistan has been a stumbling factor for greater regional connectivity which must be now resolved for greater regional integration, prosperity, and poverty eradication for which Pakistan and Uzbekistan have been jointly playing important roles.

Mr. Rustam Khuramov, Head of the Department of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan highlighted that Afghanistan is becoming a symbol of cooperation in the region. From the point of view of Central Asia, many opportunities must be explored. He highlighted that South Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world when it comes to its international cooperation, GDP growth, and contribution to the global economy.

He further highlighted the positive aspects of the Mazar-e-Sharif – Kabul – Peshawar rail route and stated that the establishment of many new industries, creation of job opportunities, reduced travel time between Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will be achieved. Roadside infrastructure, trade opportunities, and a significant contribution to regional stability and security will also be a result of this train route.

Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Peshawar highlighted that Bukhara has a rich historical and cultural background. Business caravans, many scholars, and traders utilized this region for their trade and economic activities. He also emphasized that even today, Uzbekistan is rich in minerals and natural resources.

Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan was of the view that the year of geopolitics is gone and now is the age of geo-economy. Diplomacy is now done based on economic ties and partnerships. Furthermore, Pakistan’s future lies with Asia and its neighbors.

He also mentioned that if Uzbekistan and Pakistan are connected with the rail route it will benefit Afghanistan and the entire region. The rail route will open trade opportunities. The products of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan will have a global reach.

He specifically mentioned the cotton, fruits, and vegetables produced by Uzbekistan that can be exported to the Gulf countries. Infrastructure and industrial development is also an important aspect that will create job opportunities for the people of Afghanistan, proving to be a positive step towards economic stability.

The conference was moderated by Mr. SanjarValiyev, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and was attended by 50 participants including students and subject experts from Pakistan and Uzbekistan. It was also viewed live on social media platforms by 100 viewers.

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COURTESY CGSS

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SPECIAL REPORT: Uzbekistan offered access to Pakistani ports

ISLAMABAD, MAR 15: The Pakistani Prime Min­­ister Imran Khan on Wednesday assured Uzbe­kis­tan of complete facilitation in access to Pakistani ports.

Mr Khan held out the assurance during a meeting with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Dr Abdulaziz Kamilov, who was on a two-day visit to Pakistan.

Mr Khan, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office after the meeting, said that Pakis­tan’s Karachi and Gwadar ports could become “the gateway to landlocked Central Asia as Pakistan provided the Central Asian Republics the shortest route to international seas”.

Pakistan, he said, would facilitate Uzbekistan’s access to its ports.

Uzbekistan, which currently relies on Iranian seaport of Bandar Abbas for external trade, is exploring other options and is prioritising Pakistani ports because of short distance, being more economical and due to some political considerations.

Uzbekistan is working with Pakistan on the development of two options — the first is the Trans-Afghan railway project while the second is the road route via China.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan had in Tash­kent in February signed a roadmap for the construction of almost 600km of Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Pesh­a­war railway line. The project, which is expected to take five years for completion at an estimated cost of $4.8 billion, enjoys the backing of international lending agencies including the World Bank.

Mr Khan welcomed the proposed Trans-Afghan railway project and underscored Pakistan’s commitment to support all efforts for the earliest realisation of this important connectivity project.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has been desirous of acceding to the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA), an agreement between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to facilitate transit traffic and trade. Pakistan has been supporting Uzbekistan in this regard also.

The road project under this agreement would provide an alternative link between Pakistan and Central Asia while bypassing Afghanistan through the Karakoram Highway which connects Gilgit-Baltistan to China’s Xinjiang region and further on to Central Asia.

Dr Kamilov’s visit was also focused on regional connectivity and he extended invitations to Mr Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for participation in Central Asia-South Asia Connectivity Conference in Tashkent in July.

Mr Khan told Dr Kamilov that he looked forward to visiting Uzbekistan and that his government wanted enhanced trade and regional connectivity.

DELEGATION-LEVEL MEETING

During the delegation-level talks, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Uzbek counterpart Dr Kamilov exchanged views on enhancement of economic cooperation, mutual support in international fora, regional connectivity and tourism promotion.

The two foreign ministers, the Foreign Office said, expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved in advancing the rail connectivity between the two countries and agreed on early completion of the Trans-Afghan railway project.

Mr Qureshi called for establishing direct air connectivity between the two countries to boost up trade and tourism. He also stressed the need for quick facilitation of visas for businessmen and tourists.

Visit to GHQ

Dr Kamilov later visited the General Headquarters for a meeting with Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa. Director General of ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed also attended the meeting.

“Matters of mutual interest, overall regional situation including the Afghan Peace Process and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed. Both reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations including efforts for peace and security in the region,” the ISPR said in a statement.

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COURTESY tashkenttimes.uz

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