Zardari calls for expanding Pak-Sri Lanka bilateral trade

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Zardari calls for expanding Pak-Sri Lanka bilateral trade

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President Asif Ali Zardari called for stepping up efforts to boost Pak-Sri Lanka bilateral trade.

11 February,2012 03:24 am

President Asif Ali Zardari Friday called for stepping up efforts to fully realize the potential of Free Trade Agreement with Sri Lanka and building a mutually beneficial economic and trade partnership to jack up the bilateral trade from current $375 million to $2 billion target in the next three years.The President urged for further exploring the currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka, which, he said would provide huge incentives to business houses in both the countries to actively explore and enhance business linkages as they use local currencies for trade.The President said this during one-to-one meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, President Mahinda Rajapaksa followed by delegation level talks here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.Those who were present during the delegation level meeting included among others Hina Rabbani Khar, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator A. Rehman Malik, Federal Minister for Interior, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Saleem H Mandviwala, Salman Bashir, Foreign Secretary, Maj ® Haroon Rashid, Special Secretary, Seema Ilahi Baloch, Pakistan Ambassador to Sri Lanka and other senior officials.The Sri Lankan President was assisted by Prof G.L Peiris, Minister for External Affairs, Duminda Dissanayake, Deputy Minister, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Monitoring MP, Lalith Weerathunga, Secretary to the President, Karunatilaka Amunugama, Secretary Ministry of External Affairs, ACM Jayalath Weerakkody, Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Pakistan.Briefing the media spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said matters regarding Pak-Sri Lankan bilateral relations, mutual cooperation with special reference to trade and commercial ties besides regional and international issues were discussed during the meeting.The President welcomed President Mahinda Rajapaksa and members of delegation to the Presidency and expressed hope that the visit would help boost the bilateral ties between the peoples of the two countries which date back to the days of Buddhist civilization and have been marked by a shared interest in regional peace and stability and fight against militancy.The Spokesperson said that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked the President and the government of Pakistan for according warm welcome and said that Sri Lanka attaches great importance to its strategic and special relations with Pakistan and desires to further strengthen bilateral trade and commercial ties based on mutual respect, shared civilisational heritage and shared perceptions on a host of issues.He thanked the President and government of Pakistan for the support and cooperation extended to Sri Lanka in curbing the menace of terrorism and added that Sri Lanka-Pakistan relations have matured and diversified with the passage of time, encompassing key areas of contemporary relevance.