Pakistan interested in oil and gas cooperation with Kazakhstan

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin met with the Government delegation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

As noted at the meeting, the head of the Ministry of Trade of Kazakhstan, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries. During this period, close friendly and economic ties have been established. A Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation has been established and is operating.

Kazakhstan and Pakistan have a strategic geographical location in South Asia. Therefore, expanding trade and transport interaction is a promising task for the two countries.

"The initiative to conclude an agreement on trade transit is of particular importance for us, as it is the transport sector that remains the "weak spot" in mutual trade," Serik Zhumangarin said during the meeting.

Pakistan's businesses, in turn, are interested in cooperating with Kazakhstan in the oil and gas, banking, agriculture and other sectors. 

"Our demand for energy resources is growing every year. Pakistan's market is very capacious, with a population of over 200 million people. We have no minerals, but we have advantageous transport connectivity, railway infrastructure," Federal Minister for Industry and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmood said.

In addition, the Pakistani side expressed willingness to give Kazakhstan access to the sea and to markets in the Persian Gulf via the port of Gwadar.

During the meeting, the sides also identified prospects for cooperation in the energy sector, in particular the transit of gas through the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. Finally, the sides agreed to discuss the issues in detail at the 11th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission to be held in Islamabad in December this year.  

According to the results of 2021, the volume of bilateral trade amounted to $95.1 million, having more than doubled compared to the same period of the previous year. The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Pakistan in the first 9 months of 2022 increased by 17.9% compared to the period of 2021 and reached $57.0 million.

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