Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan to boost bilateral trade to $200mn in two years

Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on Wednesday to raise bilateral trade to $200 million within two years, according to Business Recorder. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the current annual trade of $16 million as extremely low. He had travelled to Kyrgyzstan for a three-day visit to attend the Council of Heads of State meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. He thanked the Kyrgyz president for turning an earlier memorandum of understanding into a formal agreement.

The visit produced a broad package of accords covering trade, security, education, environment and technology. Both sides finalised transit trade arrangements to ease commercial movement and signed a treaty on extradition. Interior ministries agreed to combat illicit drug trafficking, including precursor chemicals, while separate memoranda covered medical and general education.

Further memoranda addressed medical education, climate change, virtual assets and cooperation between the two postal services. Lahore and Osh agreed to establish a sister city relationship, and chambers of commerce from both countries signed an accord to strengthen business ties. Both governments also drew up a draft pact covering legal help in criminal cases.