PM welcomes Azeri tax relief on rice

Azerbaijan has approved a five-year tax exemption on the import of rice from Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday thanked Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev for the decision.

"I am thankful to H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, for approving the tax exemption on the import of Pakistani rice for five years. Our two brotherly countries will work to promote economic cooperation and connectivity through road, rail and Gwadar Port," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

The prime minister's tweet came in response to the Azeri president's remarks that the decision to import rice from Pakistan with a tax exemption of five years was the outcome of his meetings with the Pakistani premier held in the last couple of months.

Aliyev, addressing an international conference at ADA University, Baku, the other day, said that during these meetings, they discussed the agenda of their bilateral relations.

The president of Azerbaijan was responding to the questions raised by a Pakistani participant.

The president said that he discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz the prospects of further intensifying the bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the decision over special regulations for rice from Pakistan, was a reflection of that.

He said that they had decided to take this step in order to stimulate the growth of mutual trade between the two countries.

He had discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz what kind of goods they could provide to each other, he added.

"Why should we buy rice from some other place if we have high-quality rice in a brotherly country? So, that decision was clearly based on our brotherly relations," the Azeri media quoted the president as saying.

Commenting further, the president said that his country enjoyed excellent relations with Pakistan.

"We are very grateful to Pakistan for the continuous support that the country demonstrates with respect to Azerbaijan-Armenia relations. During the times of occupation, during the war, and after the liberation of our territories, Pakistan was always with us, and this political and moral support is highly appreciated by the people of Azerbaijan,” President Aliyev said.

He further said that he knew that the Gwadar Port of Pakistan was transforming into a big international hub and connecting it with their infrastructure was not a difficult thing as they had to properly address the issue of tariffs, legal framework, coordination on regulation, and have teamwork.