Turkey-Pakistan CEO forum held in Istanbul

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif of Punjab was in attendance at "Turkey-Pakistan CEO Forum" hosted by Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board in Istanbul.

Sharif said at the meeting, "Pakistan's exports were higher than Turkey's exports in 1980s, but Turkey's exports exceeded 100 billion USD in 2009 while Pakistan's exports stood at 19 billion USD. During all those years, Turkey launched planned initiatives and put them into practice successfully."

"Today, we have a great opportunity in front of us and we must benefit from it. Turkey's performance constitutes the best model for us," he said.

Sharif said that Turkey and Pakistan should develop their cooperation especially in the sectors of education, industry, chemicals, textiles, husbandry and dairy production.

He also invited Turkish investors to join tenders for building of a hydroelectric power plant and coal power plant.

Meanwhile, Ali Irvali, chairman of Turkey-Pakistan Business Council, said that Turkey's biggest dam construction firms were working in a giant project in Pakistan while the equipment required by Pakistani textile sector was imported from Turkey.

"The current trade volume between Turkey and Pakistan is about 1 billion USD. We aim at increasing it to 2 billion USD by the end of 2010. Our most important problem is lack of a direct transportation line. We use ports of Italy and Singapore to ship goods to Pakistan. Actually, it is possible to transport goods from Istanbul to Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan in five days," he added.

/World Bulletin/