Pakistan to expand regional trade

Federal Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan held a string of bilateral talks with regional counterparts on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Summit, according to The Express Tribune. The agenda covered commerce, transit links, food supply and new technologies. He also met the ministers of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Qatar separately, plus the secretary general of the International Organisation for Mediation.

With Sri Lanka's trade minister Wasantha Samarasinghe, the two sides looked at expanding commerce under the existing free trade deal, Pakistan's inaugural pact of its kind. Khan also thanked the Sri Lankan side for supporting kinnow's reclassification to open better market access, while the minister appreciated Pakistan's help with pineapples, avocados and king coconut. Khan told Bangladesh's commerce, industry, textile and jute minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir that rice exports were an encouraging example, and that trade could diversify, including into textiles. Talks with Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs, Ahmad bin Mohammad Al Sayed, covered Middle East developments and their wider effects, plus transit routes toward Turkiye and Europe.

Khan also met IoMed Secretary General Teresa Chan, who described the organisation, set up in 2025, and Pakistan's role as a signatory and co-founder. The discussion turned to mediation as a way to settle disputes between governments and private bodies, with IoMed positioned to support peaceful, institutional resolution. Overall, the talks reflected Pakistan's active economic diplomacy at the summit.