ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Türkiye on Saturday reaffirmed their commitment to raising bilateral trade to $5 billion and expanding cooperation in sectors ranging from energy and mining to information technology, as the two allies sought to deepen economic ties alongside growing diplomatic coordination in the region.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Istanbul at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for talks on trade, investment and regional security. Earlier in the day, Sharif also addressed a Pakistan-Türkiye Business Conference, where he invited Turkish companies to invest in Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and highlighted opportunities in privatization, infrastructure, energy and technology.
The prime minister also met Erdoğan for detailed talks before the two leaders addressed a joint news conference.
“We have reaffirmed our target of increasing our trade volume to the previously set level of $5 billion,” the Turkish president said. “Our respective Ministries of Trade are particularly working on the Special Economic Zone planned for our businesspeople in Karachi.”
“I believe that the business forum Prime Minister Sharif attended today will also contribute to our relations in terms of investment and trade,” he added. “We too encourage our investors to engage in more activities in Pakistan.”
The Turkish leader said Ankara and Islamabad wanted to deepen cooperation in energy, transportation, critical minerals and information technologies, describing defense cooperation as one of the cornerstones of bilateral economic relations that continued to expand through new joint projects.
Sharif praised Türkiye’s economic transformation under Erdoğan’s leadership and said Pakistan hoped to draw on its experience as it pursued reforms aimed at boosting private-sector-led growth.
“Türkiye has undergone a remarkable transformation economically, technologically and strategically,” he said, adding that his discussions with the Turkish leaders during the day had focused on enhancing economic collaboration.
“We expressed satisfaction over the growing momentum in bilateral trade, investment and industrial cooperation while reviewing concrete steps to unlock the full potential of our economic partnership,” he continued. “The tremendous reservoir of goodwill between our two countries provides us a unique and ideal opportunity to achieve our mutually agreed target of $5 billion in bilateral trade.”
The two leaders also highlighted their cooperation on regional diplomacy following the recent United States-Iran ceasefire efforts.
Erdoğan congratulated Sharif for Pakistan’s role in mediating negotiations that led to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, saying Pakistan’s “invaluable efforts played a major role” in securing the agreement.
Sharif thanked Erdoğan for Ankara’s backing, saying Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts would not have succeeded without the support of Türkiye and other friendly nations.
Earlier on Saturday, addressing Turkish business leaders, Sharif announced Pakistan had earmarked a 1,000-acre site at Port Qasim in Karachi for a “President Tayyip Erdoğan Special Economic Zone” dedicated to Turkish investors.
Pakistani ministers presenting investment opportunities at the business conference said the government planned to privatize electricity distribution companies, airports and other state-owned assets while offering investment opportunities in energy, mining, infrastructure, information technology and public-private partnership projects as part of its drive to attract greater foreign investment.
