ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kazakhstan on Wednesday agreed to significantly enhance trade, investment, and regional connectivity, committing to raise the bilateral trade volume to $1 billion within the next year and to promote a multi-country transport corridor linking Central and South Asia.
“We have agreed to the Belarus- Russia- Kazakhstan- Uzbekistan, Afghanistan- Pakistan transport corridor to enhance our regional connectivity,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said during a joint press stakeout along with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev here.
The prime minister said both countries would encourage their respective business communities to come forward and invest in joint ventures, noting that despite strong political relations and shared goodwill, the existing investment portfolio remained negligible.
“Unfortunately, our trade volume is just a meager $250 million in last year. And this does not reflect not only the strength of our friendship, but also the potential of the two countries,” he said adding that there was great potential on both sides, and with the joint efforts, both sides could make significant progress.
Earlier, the two leaders witnessed the exchange of 37 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements across a wide range of sectors. These included finance, trade, industry, transport, energy, health, culture, security, education, media, science, technology, climate change, agriculture, and other areas of mutual interest.
He hoped that economic cooperation between the countries would now move towards practical and result-oriented outcomes. He also emphasized the importance of timely implementation of the signed agreements.
He said the MoUs should be converted into actionable projects at the earliest to deliver tangible benefits to both countries.
The prime minister reiterated Pakistan’s strong interest in expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan in energy, mining, transport, culture, and information sectors, noting that both countries were endowed with natural resources and human capital.
He also congratulated the President of Kazakhstan on accepting the invitation, being a member of the Board of Peace under President Trump’s leadership. “Let us hope and pray to Allah Almighty that through our joint efforts, we will be successful in bringing long-lasting peace in Gaza. It’s a reconstruction. And of course, make the two-state solution a reality as soon as possible.”
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev described Pakistan as a reliable and important partner of Kazakhstan in South Asia and beyond. He said the elevation of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership opened new opportunities for cooperation across the full spectrum of bilateral and multilateral engagement.
“By elevating our relations to a new level, we open up immense opportunities to engage across a full spectrum of bilateral and multilateral agenda,” President Tokayev said.
He noted that bilateral trade had already shown positive momentum, doubling in the previous year, and said both sides had agreed on concrete measures to further expand trade with an ambitious but achievable target of $1 billion in the near future.
President Tokayev highlighted cooperation in transport and logistics as a priority area, particularly projects aimed at expanding trade flows and improving connectivity. He said discussions also covered Pakistan’s growing role in regional transit and logistics, including the use of the ports of Karachi and Gwadar as potential gateways for Central Asian trade.
The Kazakh president said both sides also agreed to explore the resumption of direct air connections to promote business, tourism, and people-to-people contact.
