Roundup: Turkey to cement ties with Pakistan by boosting trade

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is set to visit Pakistan to hold an inter-governmental conference with a focus on boosting business and economic ties between the two countries, Turkish analysts said.

The Turkish prime minister will be accompanied by a large business delegation during the two-day visit on Tuesday and Wednesday, and several cooperation agreements are expected to be signed between the high-ranking officials.

"This is an important visit to boost already cordial ties between the two countries by taking further concrete steps to cement relations especially in business," Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, professor of international relations at Ankara-based Gazi University, told Xinhua.

"For years business and economic ties have been underperforming and are not at an attractive level of diplomatic and political relations," he said.

Davutoglu's visit is part of the 4th meeting of High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, an intergovernmental conference to fast track relations in many areas by involving Prime Ministers of both countries and a few cabinet members in the meetings. It was first set up in October 2009.

Davutoglu's visit is the first as Prime Minister since he assumed office last August, although he frequently travelled to Pakistan as foreign minister.

Pakistan's foreign ministry issued a statement Monday stating there would be official meetings in six key areas comprised of finance and banking, trade, energy, transport and communications, education, culture and tourism.

"The two prime ministers will also attend the 2015 Pakistan-Turkey Business Forum," the statement noted.

The trade volume between the two countries was recorded as 696 million U.S. dollars in 2014, according to Turkish government data, a decrease of some four percent from 2013.

TRADE DEAL UNLIKELY

The two sides have been negotiating preferential trade agreement (PTA) since 2005 but no agreement has been reached so far despite promising statements issued by both Turkish and Pakistani officials.

"I do not expect the PTA to be concluded during Davutoglu's visit this time either," a diplomat told Xinhua, citing difficulties in negotiations.

"In several areas, both economies are competing. That makes it difficult to move on an PTA deal," the same diplomat, who is familiar with the discussions, underlined. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

Pakistan wants to attract increased investment and business from Turkey whilst the latter wants to tap into infrastructure needs of the former by undertaking construction, energy, housing, education and transportation projects.

There are already a number of Turkish companies that are active in these areas in Pakistan.

Pakistan and Turkey enjoy a special relationship that is rooted in historical ties as both governments see eye to eye on many regional and international issues.

STABILITY IN AFGHANISTAN IMPORTANT

Both countries have been especially active in efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and shore up stability and security there with development and other projects.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey trilateral process that was launched in April 2007 aimed to boost cooperation to promote regional peace, security and economic development.

"Turkey, a country that has significant goodwill in both Kabul and Islamabad, has proven capable in decreasing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan with initiatives such as Trilateral summits at presidents' level," Mesut Cevikalp, Turkish analyst, told Xinhua.

He also noted that Turkey's support of cooperation schemes in the heart of Asia in Pakistan and Afghanistan benefits the regional countries in tackling terrorism and drug trafficking.

Turkey has been training both Afghan and Pakistani military personnel as protocol approved by Turkish Parliament in 2012.

As part of the trilateral process, both the military and intelligence chiefs of Afghanistan and Pakistan attend meetings with the commitment of the Turkish side as well. Endit