Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan, Aybek Arif Usmanov on Sunday said that Pakistan and Uzbekistan intend to increase the bilateral trade volume up to $1 billion in the coming two years.
He said that the current bilateral trade between the two countries is $180 million, which is expected to reach $1 billion in the next two years.
In response to a question, he said that the implementation of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Pakistan and Uzbekistan is going on and bilateral trade will further develop as a result.
The ambassador said that negotiations will be held every year to review the PTA between the two countries along with online discussions regarding tariff rationalization to make it productive for both countries.
He stated that currently, mutual trade barriers and customs were a cause of concern and needed timely solutions to be resolved.
For this purpose, both countries were working on a mechanism.
In response to another question, he said that a Transit Trade agreement has been signed between Pakistan and Uzbekistan last year, which will promote mutual trade.
The Ambassador said that on March 28 of the same year, a Tripartite Transport and Logistic conference was held in Uzbekistan in which the transport and communication ministers of Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan participated and several problems were resolved through mutual discussions.
In the conference, Uzbekistan announced the establishment of the International Temiz Cargo Center, which will facilitate traders of all three countries, he added.
He further stated that a comprehensive plan was being followed to enhance trade. It includes working on rail and road networks for regional economic and trade integration, to connect countries such as China, Central Asia and other South Asian countries in terms of trade and to promote economic relations with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members.
Furthermore, he stated that work has also begun on China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan railway lines. This railway line would connect to Jalalabad and Peshawar railway line from Termez in Uzbekistan. He also said that the role of Afghanistan will be significant in terms of the mutual trade agreement.
Moreover, he stated that Uzbekistan, as the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization annual summit 2022 of the SCO Heads of State Council, was hoisting on September 15-16 in Samarkand.
He said that SCO member countries could play a key role in global and regional economic and trade integration in the current scenario. The SCO has important member countries in terms of geo-economic and geopolitical position, including developed economies, which can play an important role in the development of global and regional economies through this organisational platform, he said. The ambassador said that information technology, renewable energy and telemedicine will be the major topics at a summit this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2022.
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