ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan said on Wednesday that they aimed to increase the trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan up to 1 billion USD.
Together with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Aziz, who is currently paying a state visit to Turkey, visited the Union of Turkish Chambers & Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).
Aziz stressed that Pakistan attributed great importance to its relations with Turkey.
Emphasizing that they also targeted to improve their defense industry, Prime Minister Aziz said, ''we want to make Pakistan a moderate Islamic state.''
Aziz said that their economy was reshaped on the basis of liberalization, privatization and development of private sector.
Referring to the Kashmir dispute, Prime Minister Aziz said that they had succeeded in setting up a dialogue process with India with the aim of securing lasting peace in the region.
He noted that Pakistan could bridge Turkey to central Asia, western Asia and the People's Republic of China.
Prime Minister Aziz called on Turkish firms to take part in privatization process in Pakistan, especially in the sectors of oil, natural gas, mining, energy, communications, infrastructure and tourism.
Pointing out that Turkish investors would have the chance of acting freely in Pakistan, Prime Minister Aziz added that economic cooperation between the two countries should be further deepened.
(UK-MS)
2005-06-01