The
recent visit of Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan to Pakistan seems
promising as it portrays the strong and brotherly relations between the two
countries. Turkish PM, Tayyip Erdogan, who was accompanied by his spouse Emine
Erdogan, Members of the Cabinet, Parliamentarians and senior government
officials, received a very warm welcome upon their arrival and the government
also conferred Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country’s highest civil award on Turkish
Prime Minister in recognition of his contribution for strengthening Pak-Turk
ties.The people of Pakistan and Turkey share the ideals of freedom, social justice and liberty, and historical association of two brotherly states have now grown into a strong partnership on all fronts. This historical association of people from both countries has now grown into a strong partnership on all fronts. While we have always supported each other’s causes on all international and regional forums, we have also stood by each other in our hours of crisis and catastrophe
The Turkish government has always been very supportive to Pakistan from time to time, which can be gauged from the fact that Turkey was first to respond wholeheartedly to the victims of devastating earthquake which rocked the northern areas of Pakistan on October 8. Prime Minister Erdogan was the first head of government to visit the affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir after the Oct 8 earthquake. He has been actively involved in rendering assistance to Pakistan through rehabilitation and reconstruction projects for the revival of life after the devastating earthquake.
It certainly is welcoming to note that during Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit, both countries agreed to visa liberalization for business communities of the two countries, which will help in strengthening the existing trade ties between both countries. This will provide enhanced interaction for better commercial ties between the businessmen of Pakistan and Turkey.
Moreover, with Pakistan's geo-strategic location and ease of doing business, Turkey will be well positioned to take advantage of Pakistan's economic potential. One key area where Pakistan and Turkey's interests intersect, which must be focused, is the domain of private sector cooperation.
The geo-strategic location of both Pakistan and Turkey are unique and provide an opportunity to both countries to evolve an effective multidimensional mechanism to address the issues of mutual concerns.
It is pertinent to mention here that the current volume of trade between Pakistan and Turkey does not commensurate with potential that exists between the two countries. Experts believe that through bilateral arrangements and early implementation of regional trade agreements such as the ECO Trade Agreement and also finalization of Free Trade Agreement, the two countries shall be able to open up markets to a greater range of products and services.
Pakistan and Turkey must work out, as a key component of common Asia policy, a common marketing and market development strategy for Eurasia. This must include, besides the bilateral component, joint plans to revamp and revitalize the trade promotion role of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
Pakistan and Turkey have also vowed to jointly combat the ‘menace’ of terrorism and have an ‘intensified cooperation’ on political, diplomatic, security and military fields.
The two countries have also decided to comprehensively upgrade strategic partnership and intensify political and economic cooperation. Pakistan and Turkey also signed a Joint Declaration reiterating resolve to bolster relations in areas of economy, trade, investment, agriculture, industry, culture, education, defense, and people-to-people contacts. The two countries also decided to re-energize trade relations by greater involvement of their private sectors. However, there is also a need to explore the tremendous scope for investment of Turkish companies in development of Pakistan's alternate energy and tourism sectors.