Shavkat Mirziyoyev to meet President Zardari, hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks at a conference. PHOTO: AFP
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) announced on Wednesday that Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a two-day state visit to Pakistan on February 5-6.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Uzbek president would meet President Asif Ali Zardari, hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and address the Pakistan-Uzbekistan Business Forum during his stay.
“The discussions will focus on reviewing the overall bilateral relationship and identifying new avenues to further deepen cooperation in various sectors, including trade, energy, defence, education, people-to-people exchanges and regional connectivity,” the OF said.
He will lead a high-level delegation, comprising senior ministers and business leaders,
FO said this would be its second visit to Pakistan, reflecting the “upward trajectory” of Pak-Uzbek bilateral relations and the fraternal ties between the two countries, rooted in common history, faith and “common aspirations for peace and prosperity in Central and South Asia”.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan enjoy strong diplomatic and economic relations, with leaders of the two countries frequently visiting each other to further strengthen bilateral ties.
Earlier this week, Pakistan and Uzbekistan agreed to accelerate efforts to increase bilateral trade to $2 billion, following the 10th session of the Pakistan-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation concluded in Islamabad.
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the steady progress in bilateral engagement and reaffirmed their commitment to expanding trade, investment and economic cooperation. They highlighted the importance of the preferential trade agreement, welcomed the progress made under the Phase II concessions and agreed to accelerate institutional mechanisms to achieve the trade target of $2 billion.
The discussions focused on trade facilitation, improving logistics, digitalization of customs, transit trade cooperation, developing regional trade corridors and strengthening business-to-business engagement, as well as improving visa facilitation for the business community.
