Gilani, Erdogan for joint move to bolster bilateral ties

Prime Minister conveys profound gratitude to Prime Minister Erdogan over Turkish donations worth $200 million.

ISLAMABAD:

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani at the PM House on Wednesday where the two discussed various issues of mutual interest.

Gilani thanked the Turkish PM for his efforts in helping Pakistan in the relief and rehabilitation process after the floods, and added that both countries were on good terms and these relations would further strengthen with the passage of time.

The Turkish prime minister arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit to Pakistan. He is due to hold talks with Pakistani leaders and is also set to visit flood-affected areas.

Prime Minister Gilani thanked Erdogan for the “generous and substantial funds” of $200 million - $126 million of which was donated by the Turkish business community and people for the PM’s fund for the the flood victims.

Gilani commended Turkey as the first country to start the building of pre-fabricated home villages for the flood affected in Nowshera, and 2,000 more for 10,000 affected people in Muzaffargarh. Erdogan expressed solidarity on behalf of the people of Turkey for the worst calamity in the history of Pakistan.

Gilani briefed his Turkish counterpart on the efforts for rehabilitation and recovery in the flood affected areas and apprised him about the establishment of the National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC).

The prime minister said the economic impact of the floods was colossal and hoped the damage need and assessment report of the World Bank and ADB would be finalised during the week. He said that the cost of rehabilitation and long term reconstruction was expected to run into tens of billions of dollars.

The PM said that the country would be sharing its national strategy for rehabilitation and reconstruction with its development partners in the forthcoming meeting of the Pakistan Development Forum next month. He said both countries should strive to raise the level of trade to $2 billion by 2012 and added that the Turkish government should encourage its private sector to collaborate closely with their Pakistani counterparts in key sectors such as construction, infrastructure, engineering, energy, agriculture, telecommunications, mining, textile, etc.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2010.