Istanbul: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday invited Turkish businessmen and investors to invest in Pakistan’s sectors of industry, mines and minerals, power, information technology and participate in the country’s privatization process.
He was speaking at a Pakistan-Trkiye Business Conference attended by Turkish and Pakistani ministers and businessmen. He said Pakistani delegation was in Turkiye to explore economic opportunities.
Turkiye, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had made tremendous strides in industry, automobile sector, textiles, and agriculture in the last 20 years, he noted, adding that Pakistan wanted to learn from the success of Turkiye in the process of privatization and setting up special economic zones.
He declared that his government had earmarked 1000 acres for Turkish investors in President Tayyip Erdogan’s special economic zone in Karachi.
Similarly, in the field of mine and minerals there was great scope, he said, adding, “Now is the time to e
xplore these natural resources through our joint cooperation. Similarly, opportunities existed in the field of artificial intelligence and information technology. Pakistan has a young population. We are a country of 240 million people and 60 percent of it is youth and we wanted to take advantage of their talent.”
The Prime Minister said Pakistan wanted to privatize its loss-making power sector entities and was also inviting investments in alternative energy, including solar and wind. He appreciated the Turkish investors for their interest in investing in different sectors of Pakistani economy.
He said Pakistan was willing to sign government-to-government agreements with Turkiye to attract investment. He lauded Turkiye for standing by Pakistan as a rock in challenging times, even bearing losses for the sake of Pakistan. He said he wanted to work with President Erdogan to strengthen the bilateral relations. He said Turkiye was one of the staunchest allies of Pakistan around the globe.
“This fraternal bond be
tween our two countries goes back centuries,” he said, adding, “This wonderful, unique relationship dates back to Turkiye’s war of independence when Muslims under the leadership of Ali brothers supported Turkiye’s sacrifices and efforts for independence.”
He said people of Turkiye had shown compassion, friendship and support for Pakistan in times of war, earthquake and floods. He said the strength of the bilateral relationship demanded that ideas shared at the conference should be converted into concrete action for the benefit of two people.
He recalled that Pakistan, with the support of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, had been able to mediate peace between the United States and Iran. “It was not an easy but an uphill task and without the sincere support of President Erdogan, along with other friendly and brotherly countries, the mission would have been impossible. But now a ceasefire had taken place and Islamabad memorandum of understanding had been signed by Presidents of US, Iran and himself and now th
ere was tremendous potential for benefits for the entire region,” he explained.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Turkiye was ready to open new doors of cooperation with Pakistan.
“The bilateral relations between the two countries were not just based on mutual interest, but they had stood together as two brotherly nations in challenging times.
Pakistan is not only a leading country in South Asia today but also has a constructive role in regional and global issues impacting peace and stability as a responsible country,” he added. He said Pakistan had made great efforts to reduce tensions in the Middle East in the last months through its constructive diplomacy in a mediator role between Iran and the United States.
Turkiye greatly appreciated mediation role of Pakistan, he said, adding that without security, there could not be economic development in the country and the region. Pakistan had made great contributions to the security in the region and this would hugely support the development of the reg
ion, he continued.
The Vice President said Pakistan and Turkiye had a strong bilateral trade and economic relationship under the leadership of the two countries. The High Level Strategic Cooperation Council of Pakistan and Turkiye brought together institutions of the two countries on a regular basis for economic cooperation, he mentioned, adding, “We have the target of increasing our bilateral trade to five billion dollars.”
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said the trust between the leadership and people of the two countries was an asset.
He said that in the changing international scenario, the dimensions of economic cooperation had changed.
Pakistan and Turkiye had every reason to be among those countries that were creating economic prosperity by forging closer partnerships, he remarked. He said Pakistan and Turkiye were strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, Middle East and Central Asia.
“Together we connect markets, regions and opportunities that extend far beyond our own borders,” h
e added.
“This strategic location must become an economic advantage to both of our peoples,” he said, adding he firmly believed that diplomacy today was no longer confined to political dialogue alone and economic diplomacy had assumed importance.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said economic diplomacy had become one of the principal instruments through which nations created prosperity. Ishaq Dar said the government of Pakistan had embarked upon an ambitious programme of economic reforms under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif aimed at improving macroeconomic stability, enhancing investor confidence and creating an enabling environment and ease of business for entrepreneurs.
“We welcome Turkish investment across key sectors including energy, mining and minerals, power infrastructure, information technology, manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, tourism and defence industries.” These sectors offer tremendous opportunities not only for commercial success but also for technology transfer, industrial
modernization and employment generation.
Equally important is collaboration in emerging technologies, artificial innovation, digital innovation, fintech, advanced manufacturing and research partnerships that will increasingly determine the competitiveness of our two economies,” he added. He said the world was changing and Pakistan and Turkiye must not merely respond to the changes, but they must shape up and work together for excellence.
He said there was huge potential for economic progress and both countries should seize the available opportunities together for the benefit of the people.
“Pakistan and Turkiye are ready to shape the future together, not just as trusted friends but as partners in prosperity, innovation and regional stability.” Earlier, Pakistani ministers called upon Turkish businessmen and investors to invest in the country’s infrastructure projects and explore new opportunities in the energy, aviation, health, industry and information technology sectors and take advantage of the steadily
growing economy.
Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Privatisation, Muhammad Ali, gave details of investment opportunities and ongoing economic reforms in Pakistan. He said Pakistan’s economic fundamentals were strong; the country achieved a current account surplus, controlled inflation, enhanced per capita income and remittances and was undertaking major projects to boost economic growth.
The government had taken measures to aggressively pursue a privatization programme to attract investors for construction of motorways and for investment in health and hospitality sectors and for running of airports under the public-private partnership, he added.
Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik briefed the participants on the upcoming and current major projects in mining, energy, oil and gas sector to meet the country’s growing demand. He said as Pakistan transitions towards higher economic growth, new oil refineries and fuel storage would be built and new blocks of copper and gold mines would
be made operational for extraction and processing of the precious metals.
“Companies had started vertical drilling in new projects and were upgrading oil refineries and bonded storage facilities were rolled out for fuel.” He said regulations were harmonized across the country to facilitate the investors.
Minister for Power Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari said continuous reforms were underway in the power sector to restructure electricity companies, reduce inefficiencies in the system by 45 percent and undertake privatization of distribution system and digitalization of the transmission in the power sector.
Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja said information technology sector exports were growing by 20 percent, adding that Pakistan was the 4th largest country in terms of outsourcing of IT services.
She said 26000 IT companies were registered in Pakistan and special technology zones were set up to spur expansion in the information technology sector.
While welcoming the participants of the co
nference, Pakistan’s ambassador to Turkiye, Dr Yousaf Junaid, invited Turkish investors to explore trade, investment and industrial opportunities in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan and Turkiye had a shared commitment to transform the longstanding political relationship and brotherhood into a mutually beneficial economic partnership. The conference was an opportunity for both sides to benefit from experiences of each other.