Islamabad, Baku agree to expand investment to $2bn

ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev Thursday said that Pakistan and his country wanted to invest $2 billion in various fields of mutual interest, as both the countries signed 15 agreements and MoUs for cooperation in diverse fields.

Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev here, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that teams of both the countries would further exchange views on the $2 billion investment on Friday (today).

“Hopefully both the countries will be ready to ink an agreement during my upcoming visit to Azerbaijan,” the premier said. He observed that Pakistan and Azerbaijan have immense investment potential worth billions of dollars in the years to come, adding that the two countries have agreed to enhance bilateral trade as well.

Earlier, Azerbaijan President lham Aliyev received a warm reception on his arrival in Pakistan on a two-day official visit. The aircraft of the president of Azerbaijan was escorted by the fighter jets of the Pakistan Air Force to Islamabad as it entered the Pakistani airspace.

Shehbaz hosted a formal reception in the honour of Ilham Aliyev in Islamabad.

On his arrival at the Prime Minister’s House, Shehbaz received the Azerbaijan president. The prime minister and Azerbaijan president also held a one-on-one meeting and discussed matters relating to bilateral issues.

Shehbaz told the presser that Pakistan always supported Azerbaijan’s stand on Nagorno-Karabakh, while the latter has extended similar support for the cause of Kashmiris, who have paid huge sacrifices to achieve their right of self-determination as per the UN Security Council resolutions. He also conveyed his best wishes to the Azerbaijan president and its people as the country prepares to host the COP29 in Baku. It will be a significant international event for all developing countries, including Pakistan.

“We are quite confident that under your leadership, COP29 will deliver on the climate change related issues of developing countries like Pakistan,” Shehbaz said. The Azeri president said his country looks forward to building a strong partnership with Pakistan at economic and trade level.

Expressing satisfaction over the existing level of political ties between the two countries, he said they will increase our bilateral trade volume. He pointed that the two countries have identified nine initial priority areas for preferential trade and have discussed several projects in areas of energy infrastructure and defence industry. “We will also engage in practical elements of cooperation like trade, energy, investment and corridors of transportation,” he said.

Talking about Shehbaz’s last year visit to Azerbaijan, Aliyev said the visit was a breakthrough, and the two countries have always supported and cooperated with each other.

Earlier, Pakistan and Azerbaijan on Thursday signed 15 agreements and MoUs for cooperation in diverse fields. The agreements and MoUs were exchanged at a ceremony in Islamabad, witnessed by the prime minster and Azerbaijan president. The agreements and MoUs pertain to Consular Affairs, transit trade, preferential trade, privatization of state property, law and justice, mineral resources and geology, cultural exchange programme from 2024 to 2029, cooperation in information technology and telecommunication, television production, scientific and technical cooperation, tourism, air services, establishment of twin cities of Baku and Islamabad, small and medium enterprises, literature and science.

Well-placed diplomatic sources told The News here Thursday that PM Shehbaz refreshed the invitation last week when he met President Aliyev on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana during the trilateral meeting of the heads of government of Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey. President Aliyev was elected president of his country for five-year term just one day ahead of Pakistan’s general elections of February 8. He was elected securing more than 92 percent votes on February 7 against an independent candidate who bagged more than two percent of total polled votes.

President Aliyev is an acclaimed hero of his nation since he earned success in retaking the former breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic Armenian forces. The 62-year-old president is visiting Pakistan second time in seven years. He visited Pakistan last when Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister.