Gilani seeks Kazakh support in trade, energy sectors
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Sept 7 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and his Kazakh counterpart Karim Massimov on Wednesday discussed ways to broaden the canvas of bilateral cooperation in the fields of economic, energy, communications and defence.The two leaders exchanged views on a whole range of bilateral, regional and international issues, in a meeting held at the Government House, which was followed by delegation-level talks.
Prime Minister Gilani who arrived here on Tuesday is visiting Kazakhstan for the first time. This is also the first bilateral visit by Pakistani leadership to this Central Asian state in 16 years after prime minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s visit in 1995.
Prime Minister Gilani and Prime Minister Massimov agreed to enhance interaction between the leaderships of the two countries, interaction of foreign ministers,parliamentarians and the business community to promote people-to-people contacts.
They also agreed to facilitate the businessmen of both sides by relaxing visa regimes,holding of bilateral business forums and  single country exhibitions and launching of joint ventures in the  sectors of pharmaceuticals, cement, engineering goods and automobiles.
In a joint press statement after their talks, the two prime ministers termed the bilateral interaction of Pakistani and Kazakh leadership after 16 years as “very important.”
 Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan offers lucrative investment opportunities particularly in the fields of energy and hyrdo-power generation, and added that Kazakhstan could benefit from this idea.
He said Pakistan believed that creation of economic opportunities for the people would help the efforts to eliminate extremism and illegal drug trafficking.
 He said the meeting discussed ways to enhance cooperation between  the armed forces of Pakistan and Kazakhstan and the security institutions by establishing a mechanism to exchange information on counter-terrorism and drug trafficking.
Kazakh Prime Minister Massimov said Paksitan was playing a very important role  in the regional stability and lauded its efforts  for counter-terrorism.
Gilani said Pakistan attaches great importance  to the bilateral relations with Kazakhstan and considers it  an important regional, political and economic player linking the Eurasia region.
He said Pakistan looked forward to the continued engagement to further expand and deepen the relationship for mutual benefit of the two peoples.
Prime Minister Massimov stressed the need for taking bilateral  relations between the two countries to new heights by  strengthening trade relations in particular.
He highlighted the importance of people-to-people contacts for fortifying the Pak-Kazakh relations since the two countries share rich heritage and common values.
He said the visit of a Pakistani  prime minister to Kazakhstan in 16 years was significant to bring very positive results for the two countries and two nations.
 He said the two countries are very close having similar traditions and stressed the need for their interaction more often. The delegation-level meeting was attended by Minister for Production Anwar Ali Cheema, Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa, Senator Ghulam Ali (JUI), MNA Qamar Zaman Kaira, Secretary Defence Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Athar Ali, Ambassador Akhtar Tufail and businessman Faisal Ahmad.