Pakistan is seeking fresh Turkish investment after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to deepen economic cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to increase bilateral trade to $5 billion.
Pakistan sought to attract fresh Turkish investment on Saturday as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to deepen economic cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to increase bilateral trade to $5 billion, signalling a renewed push to translate decades of close political ties into stronger commercial partnerships.
The commitment came during Sharif's official visit to Istanbul, where the two leaders held bilateral and delegation-level talks before addressing a joint press conference. Their discussions focused on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, defence, energy, transport, critical minerals and information technology, while preparations continue for the eighth session of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council later this year.
Speaking at the Pakistan–Türkiye Business Conference, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar invited Turkish companies to invest in Pakistan's energy, mining and minerals, power infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, tourism, information technology and defence sectors.
Dar said Pakistan's economic reform programme, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, aims to strengthen macroeconomic stability, improve investor confidence and create a more business-friendly investment environment.
He also identified artificial intelligence, fintech, advanced manufacturing and research partnerships as emerging areas for bilateral cooperation, saying economic diplomacy had become central to relations between the two countries.
Pakistan and Türkiye currently trade well below their shared ambition of $5 billion annually. Both leaders said expanding investment would be key to achieving that goal.
"We encourage our investors to be more active in Pakistan," Erdoğan said, adding that the two countries were working to establish a Special Economic Zone for Turkish businesses in Karachi while negotiations continued to expand the scope of the Preferential Trade Agreement. He also described defence cooperation as one of the pillars of bilateral economic relations.
Sharif said the agreements reached during the visit "will not remain words on paper" but would translate into stronger trade, investment and strategic cooperation.
Ahead of the summit, Sharif met executives from leading Turkish companies and business organisations, including Çalık Holding, Albayrak Group, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and telecommunications company Turkcell.
He invited Turkish firms to expand investment in energy, infrastructure, logistics, mining, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and agriculture.
Sharif also promoted Pakistan's improving macroeconomic outlook and highlighted the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which provides one-stop support for strategic investors.
In a separate meeting with Turkcell, he proposed establishing a Pakistan–Türkiye Digital Corridor and invited the company to explore cooperation in 5G deployment, digital infrastructure, software development and technology transfer.
Beyond economic cooperation, the two leaders reaffirmed support for each other's core national interests. Pakistan reiterated its support for Türkiye on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, while Ankara reaffirmed its longstanding support for Pakistan's position on Jammu and Kashmir.
The leaders also exchanged views on regional security. Erdoğan welcomed Pakistan's diplomatic efforts that contributed to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed on 18 June, which helped end the U.S.-Iran conflict. He said Türkiye would continue supporting diplomatic initiatives aimed at reducing regional tensions.
The visit underscored Pakistan's broader effort to attract long-term foreign investment while strengthening one of its closest strategic partnerships, as both governments seek to convert decades of political alignment into deeper economic cooperation.
Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the United States maintains its pause on strikes, but Tehran remains sceptical of U.S. intentions, a senior ...
A known Islamist suspected of driving a minivan into a crowd near a major LGBTQ Pride gathering in Berlin was shot dead during a police operation at a...
Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham "will always put Britain's interests first", he told the BBC in an interview when asked whether he was willi...
Russian authorities said 11 people, including four children, had been killed by Ukraine in an overnight attack on a holiday camp, accusing Kyiv on Saturday of deliberately targeting civilians.
Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the United States maintains its pause on strikes, but Tehran remains sceptical of U.S. intentions, a senior Iranian source told on Sunday.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 25th of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto recently offered the dismissed Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Mykhailo Federov an adviser role in Italy.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington next week as tensions continue to rise across the Middle East.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the West Bank early on Sunday, setting fire to two mosques and scrawling graffiti on buildings, Palestinian officials said.
A new state agency wants the world to take Georgian food as seriously as Georgians already do.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have signed regional and commercial agreements worth more than 80 billion tenge ($146 million). The deals aim to expand cooperation between the two Central Asian neighbors in trade, transport, industry and cross-border development.
UN Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Damascus on Saturday for the first trip to Syria by a serving United Nations' chief since 2009, before the start of a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
More than 100 Afghan business representatives travelled to Uzbekistan this week for a business forum aimed at expanding trade and investment, as Uzbek investors also expressed interest in Afghanistan’s mining sector.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment