Pak-Tunisia Joint Commission Wednesday commenced its 8th session aimed at exploring avenues for closer co-operation in various areas including trade, economic, energy and telecommunication sectors. The opening ceremony of the two-day (September 19-20 ) 8th session of the Joint Commission was held here at the Foreign Office in which Pakistan side was headed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan while the Tunisian side was led by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Tunisia Hedi Ben Abbes.
The opening session will be followed by technical discussions in areas of mutual interest. In his opening remarks, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs welcomed Tunisian delegation and hoped that deliberations of Joint Commission would pave the way for trade enhancement and co-operation in the fields of mutual interest between the two countries. He told his Tunisian counterpart that Pakistan's economy witnessed reasonable growth despite several challenges, as export has crossed $25 billion mark last year while foreign remittances have gone up to $11 billion. He further said that the country's foreign exchange reserves have increased up to $18 billion.
Speaking on the occasion, Tunisian Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hedi Ben Abbes said that Preferential Trade Agreement between Tunisia and Pakistan would be signed soon which would benefit Pakistan and help it access European markets.
He said that his country was looking forward to set new standards in relationship with Pakistan. He also stressed the need for private sector involvement to boost relations and expressed the hope that the current session of the joint commission would find out ways for enhancing relations in various sectors of the economy.
The Tunisian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said that Tunisia would continue to enhance its economic and trade relations with Pakistan. He hoped that 8th Session of Joint Commission would devise concrete roadmap for future economic co-operation between the two countries.
During the technical level discussions, the deliberations will focus on future co-operation in trade, economy, education, agriculture, railways, energy, telecommunication, science and technology. The meetings of Joint Working Groups on science and technology, and preferential trade agreement will also be held on the sidelines of the 8th session today (Thursday). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Central Banks of Pakistan and Tunisia and opening of bank branches would also be discussed during the two-day session.
Meanwhile, the second session of bilateral political consultations between Pakistan and Tunisia was also held at the Foreign Office. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan led the Pakistani side whereas the delegation of Tunisia was headed by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Hedi Ben Abbes.
Welcoming his Tunisian counterpart, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs referred to the warm and cordial relations between the two brotherly countries. He expressed the hope that the session would bring the Foreign Offices of the two countries closer and also help understand each other's point of view on important global, regional and bilateral matters. He briefed Tunisian Secretary of State on Pakistan's relations with the neighbouring countries, United States and war against terrorism.
Hedi Ben Abbes while referring to the excellent relations between the two countries appreciated the support that Pakistan had extended during the independence struggle of the country. He briefed the minister about the political developments and the challenges that Tunisia was facing to consolidate the gains of the January 2011 revolution in Tunisia. The second session is on Joint Political Consultations coincided with the 8th session of Pak-Tunisia Joint Commission.
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