President for broadening economic, cultural cooperation with Uzbekistan

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called for further broadening bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan in trade, economy, culture and tourism.

The president, talking to Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr, said that Pakistan attached utmost importance to its ties with Uzbekistan, which were centuries old and based on shared religion, culture and history.

Welcoming the foreign minister, the president said that both countries had great potential to increase bilateral trade and economic ties for the mutual benefit of the two sides, the official news agency reported.

He highlighted that Pakistan was committed to regional connectivity, and the Central Asian countries needed to take advantage of its geographic location.

President Zardari also suggested barter trade and using local currency to enhance bilateral trade between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, besides opening banks in the two countries to facilitate and improve business and commercial relations. He underlined the need for further promoting people-to-people and tourism linkages to bring the two countries further closer.

Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov called for developing a roadmap to further deepen bilateral ties and accelerate the partnership for the mutual benefit of two countries.

He also urged the need for an action plan to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation and expressed the hope that the transport corridor between the two countries would further improve bilateral ties.

The visiting foreign minister also conveyed the warm regards of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev for President Asif Ali Zardari.