Kazakhstan to launch direct flights between Almaty, Lahore: Ambassador
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Kazakhstan to launch direct flights between Almaty, Lahore: Ambassador
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Kazakh Ambassador Yerzhan Kistafin said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan was starting direct flights between Almaty and Lahore from April, and Almaty and Karachi from May this year to help promote business to business, and people to people relations between both the countries.
“President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will visit Pakistan this year, which will start a new chapter of trade and economic relations between the two countries”, the ambassador said while addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).
Yerzhan said that 20 MoUs would be signed during the visit of Kazakhstan’s president to further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in multiple fields.
He also extended invitation to the businesspeople to visit Kazakhstan to join the launch of direct flights.
He appreciated the role of Zafar Bakhtawari, former president of ICCI for first-ever direct flights between the two countries. He said a delegation of Pakistan’s businesswomen would also visit Kazakhstan to explore business cooperation with Kazakh counterparts.
“Kazakhstan intends to sign a transit trade agreement, and agreement between the banking sectors of both the countries that will provide a legal framework to their business communities for bilateral trade promotion”, he added.
“Kazakhstan provides Pakistan easy access to Eurasian and Central Asian markets and Pakistan should take advantage of this potential.
“Delegations from both sides will exchange visits this year that would take the Pak-Kazakhstan relations to the next level”, he said.
Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI offered that ICCI would like to host a dinner reception in honour of the President of Kazakhstan during his visit to Pakistan. He urged both the countries to focus on improving trade ties as their current bilateral trade was quite low.
He welcomed the launch of direct flights and assured that the ICCI delegation would visit Kazakhstan to join its inaugural ceremony.
He said that direct flights between Islamabad and Astana should also be started soon to connect the capitals of both countries.
He said that Pakistani ports provide the shortest route to landlocked Kazakhstan to the Arabian Sea and emphasized that both countries should establish land and railways links to enhance business relations.
“Both countries can cooperate in many fields, including construction, agriculture, energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, tourism, engineering equipment, machinery, banking and finance for mutual benefits”, he added.
He invited Kazakh investors to invest in CPEC and in other sectors of Pakistan’s economy, and assured that ICCI would cooperate in connecting them with partners in Pakistan.
Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan and Kazakhstan were gateways for each other to get easy access to their respective regional markets, and urged for close cooperation to take advantage of this potential.
Zafar Bakhtawari termed the launch of direct flights “a historic development between Pakistan and Kazakhstan.”
