Eyeing trade potential in the Central Asian region, the Ministry of Commerce will hold a ‘Silk Route Connect’ Conference at Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent.

“As a follow-up to review meetings with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan officials over the past few months and seeing the potential in Central Asian Republics and Afghanistan, it has been decided by Ministry of Commerce to hold a “Silk Route Connect” Conference at Tashkent (Uzbekistan),” stated Advisor to Prime Minister on Trade and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Monday.

The advisor informed that the conference will be held this year in summer and will be planned by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).

“It will be similar to the Look Africa Conference held in Nairobi last year. A meeting will soon be held with all the stakeholders in this regard to discuss all aspects,” he said.

Earlier, Dawood has said that Pakistan and Republic of Uzbekistan have agreed to further negotiate on proposed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to enhance the trade volume between the two countries.

“I am glad to share that I held very productive bilateral meetings in Tashkent with the leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan on trade, Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Transit Trade and Custom Cooperation during recent visit to Uzbekistan, the adviser said this on his official twitter account on Thursday.

Razak Dawood said the Trans-Afghan Railways project was also discussed in a well-attended Conference organised by the Republic of Uzbekistan, where several international donor agencies were present.

He said the trilateral talks were also held between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan and a way forward has been agreed upon.