Pakistan‚ Thailand sign three accords to boost economic ties

Pakistan and Thailand on Tuesday signed one agreement and two Memorandum of Understandings for increasing cooperation in economic and diplomatic fields, officials said.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by the visiting Prime Minister of Thailand, Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

The agreement pertained to exemption of visa for diplomatic staff of the two countries while the MoUs related to establishment of Joint Business Council and Joint Trade Company.

Later speaking at a joint press conference the two Prime Ministers said Pakistan and Thailand have agreed to further consolidate and expand their partnership in different fields and enhance cooperation in regional and multilateral framework.

The Thai Prime Minister said the two countries want to conclude free trade agreement for their mutual benefit.

She expressed the desire to forge cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism, adding Pakistan and Thailand can promote cooperation in the field of security and defence through joint exercises and training.

She invited the Prime Minister to visit Thailand.

Earlier both sides held official talks and exchanged views on enhancing cooperation in economy‚ trade and tourism.

Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan desires to comprehensively upgrade its relationship with Thailand in all areas of cooperation. “This is a critical component of Pakistan’s vision East Asia that complements Thailand’s Look-West Policy.”

He said during their talks the two countries had comprehensive discussion on a wide range of issues and there was convergence of views on important bilateral and international issues.

The Prime Minister said their talks covered significant areas including collaboration in the fields of trade‚ culture‚ infrastructure development‚ science and technology‚ defence‚ education and tourism. Regional as well as international issues of mutual interests also came under discussion.

The two sides discussed ways and means to building a strong economic partnership. The two sides noted that the bilateral trade crossed one billion dollars in 2011 and have agreed to double it over the next five years.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan has invited Thai businessmen to invest in Pakistan in various sectors including infrastructure development‚ energy‚ water and power‚ food processing‚ packaging‚ jems and jewellery as well as tourism and hospitality.

Both sides have agreed to establish Joint Trade committee and Joint Business council. The inaugural session of the Joint Trade Committee is being held tomorrow to identify areas of further collaboration.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Aug 20 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.