China to help Kyrgyzstan join Pakistan via Karakoram Highaway !

ISLAMABAD (APP) - Kyrgyzstan is working on possibility to establish direct road links with Pakistan through Karakoram Highway to further improve bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries.
Negotiations to this regard are in process with China, said Bektur Asanov, Ambassador of Kyrgyz Republic during his visit to ICCI. He expressed the hope that with the development of direct communication channels, bilateral trade will increase by 10 times between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan .
He said both countries have signed a Total Taxation Agreement to protect mutual investments and expected that it will boost the confidence of investors and enhance bilateral business and investment activities between the two countries.
He said Pakistani textile products were very popular in Kyrgyz Republic and called upon Pakistani businessmen to look for setting up textile industries in Kyrgyzstan .
He said Kyrgyzstan has now shifted its focus from Western world to South Asia as it perceives for itself great business and trade potential in this region.
He said that in a bid to promote two-way trade, an exhibition dedicated to Pakistani products is being arranged in Bishkek in January and invited Pakistani businessmen to ensure their maximum participation in that exhibition.
The concept of this exhibition is to attract attention of Kyrgyz customers to the high quality and vast variety Pakistani products, he added.
Zahid Maqbool, President ICCI said that although Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan enjoy friendly and cordial relations and are tied together under the umbrella of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), but the business and economic relations between the two countries do not correspond to their respective potentials.
He said that joints efforts were needed to improve trade relations between the tow countries to exploit the existing potential for mutual benefits.
He said Pakistan was a highly profitable investment destination as it offers unlimited investment potential in different sectors of its economy which he said are supported by good incentives for investors including a liberal trade regime, full protection of investments, unlimited repatriation of profits, an educated workforce and direct access to state authorities.
To take advantage of these opportunities, Kyrgyz businessmen should redouble their efforts to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan , he emphasized. He identified textiles, oil and gas exploration, hydropower generation, light engineering and financial sectors as potential areas for mutual cooperation between the two countries.