ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday held meetings with top Iraqi government officials as well members of the Middle East country’s business community to enhance bilateral relations, the foreign office said.
Bhutto-Zardari arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning on a three-day visit which began with meetings with the President of Iraq, Abdul Latif Rashid, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Fuad Hussein.
Relations between Pakistan and Iraq have received a boost with a number of ministerial-level exchanges in recent years. Iraq’s foreign minister visited Islamabad in August last year.
“FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met Iraq's Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi. They discussed measures to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and Iraq, especially the promotion of cooperative parliamentary exchanges,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Twitter post.
Bhutto-Zardari also held meetings with Ammar Hakeem, the president of Iraq’s Al-Hikmet party, Human Hamoudi, the head of the country’s Islamic supreme council, and Iraqi interior minister Abdulamir Kamel Al-Shammari.
During the meetings, Bhutto-Zardari discussed strengthening people-to-people contacts between the two countries, enhancing historical, religious, and cultural linkages, and cooperation in counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics activities.
The foreign minister also met representatives of the Pakistan-Iraq Business Council in Baghdad and discussed collaboration and mutual investment in five prioritized fields: IT, food security, energy, construction, and medicine.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce (FPCCI) and its Iraqi counterpart.
The foreign minister said the establishment of the Pakistan-Iraq Business Council comprising chambers of commerce and key business entities from both countries would help expand economic ties.
"Through this entity, we can follow up on programs, policy suggestions, roadmap, and special initiatives for enhancing trade and investment between the two countries," he said, according to a statement by the foreign office.
