A delegation of the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) will visit Tashkent next month to buy long-fiber cotton used in finer yarn directly from Uzbekistan instead of the open market.
This was decided at the joint ministerial commission (JMC) meeting of Pakistan and Uzbekistan in Tashkent which concluded on Friday. The Pak delegation headed by Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, including Economic Affairs Secretary Khalid Saeed and Communication Secretary Tariq Mahmud, while the Uzbek delegation was led by the Agriculture and Natural Resources Minister Ismailov.
During its three-day stay in Tashkent, the Pak delegation also called on the Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirzaroyev and discussed several proposals to increase bilateral trade, economic and scientific ties between the two brotherly countries.
Referring to decisions of the JMC which was held after almost 13 years, official sources told Business Recorder that Uzbekistan has accepted Pakistan''s offer of $5 million credit line for the purchase of Pakistani engineering products.
"The two sides also agreed to enhance the yearly cost-effective bilateral trade which has come down from $78 million to $8 million during the past decade.
They said that Pakistan has given a draft of the land transit trade agreement to Uzbekistan for its consideration as Tashkent was very keen to use Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi to reach the international markets.
Sources said that Uzbekistan offered help to export long fiber cotton, wheat, liquefied gas and chemicals to Pakistan whereas Pakistan proposed to provide technical expertise to Uzbekistan in its irrigation and power projects.
The Pak delegation told the hosts that Pakistan''s energy needs were growing by 12 percent annually and it had to look for alternative energy sources after 2010, and Uzbekistan which had large reserves of natural gas worth $1 trillion might be one of them.
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