ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has underlined the need for enhanced cooperation with Senegal in the areas of trade, economy, and education.

He said that both countries had great potential to increase bilateral trade and economic relations for the mutual benefit of the two sides.

The president expressed these views while talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Senegal Saima Sayed, who called on him, at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

Talking to the ambassador-designate, the president said that Pakistan considered Senegal as an important country in the West African region, and asked the ambassador to make concerted efforts towards further expanding the bilateral ties. He urged the ambassador to work on arranging bilateral exchanges at the ministerial level between the two countries.

The president expressed satisfaction over the participation of Pakistani businessmen in Trade Fairs (Dakar International Trade Fair-FIKDAK) in Dakar for many years, adding that such exhibitions would help in further promoting trade relations between the two countries. He asked the ambassador-designate to arrange more trade exhibitions in collaboration with the concerned ministries to boost bilateral trade volume.

The president called for increased cooperation between Pakistan and Senegal in the area of education. He said that 8,000 foreign students were currently enrolled in different programmes of the Virtual University of Pakistan (VU), and Senegalese students could also benefit from the online and distance education being offered by VU and Allama Iqbal Open University.

The president also asked Saima Sayed to highlight India’s anti-minority and anti-Muslim policies as well as the reign of terror unleashed by her against the innocent people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for over seven decades.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023