Foreign Minister Hina Rabani Khar will visit Brazil in June this year to finalise the modalities for establishing a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) which enable both countries to enhance and strengthen trade relations between two countries.
This was disclosed by Maria Edileuza Fontenele Ries, Ambassador Under-secretary General for Political Affairs-II, who was on a visit to Pakistan. She met with Foreign Minister and other government officials.
Talking to Business Recorder, she said that Pakistan and Brazil were considering establishing a 'Joint Economic Commission' as there is lot of rooms for improvement in trade relations between two countries. "We also intend to exchange information on trade opportunities by exchanging more trade missions," she said.
Maria said Brazil was looking into the possibility of increasing and diversifying the trade between two countries. She further said, "We are considering increasing the duration of stay of Pakistani businessmen in Brazil upto five years in a bid to stimulate bilateral relations. We have proposed this to Pakistani government and received positive response from their side. This proposal may also take a shape during the visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabani Khar," she said.
She said everything in Brazil about Pakistan came through the news published in EU or North American press. "I believe that direct contact will help both sides to analyse issues in regional circumstances," she added.
Replying to a question, she said, "We are pleased that India and Pakistan are sitting on table for dialogues on various issues. We are following the dialogues between both the countries for normalisation of trade relations, which is a positive step," she added. Maria said, "Pakistan must be involved in all kinds of dialogue concerning security in Afghanistan as Pakistan is a fundamental player in Afghanistan as it shares border with Afghanistan and has Afghan refugees living here."
To a question, she said though Brazil is the 6th largest economy of the world but is not yet been considered as developed economy. A good proportion of Brazilian population is still living below poverty and the Brazilian government is trying to improve their living conditions by introducing social programmes. "Brazil is also providing technical assistance to Pakistan to improve its BISP programme," she said. She said Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purpose but it must follow certain commitments, which it made to international community.