Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will pay a two-day official visit to Turkmenistan beginning Friday leading his country’s delegation to the first ever Global Conference on Sustainable Transport, being held in Ashgabat. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be present at the conference which will be attended by 1,500 participants, including heads of state and government, Ministers, private sector chiefs, civil society leaders and UN officials, Xinhua news agency reported.
The conference will discuss promotion and role of sustainable transport toward achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During the visit, Sharif will also hold a bilateral meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. “The meeting will provide an opportunity to review the decisions taken during two visits of the Prime Minister to Turkmenistan last year and the Turkmen President’s visit to Pakistan in March this year,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.
“Both the sides will also exchange views on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the Ministry said in a statement.The Foreign Ministry said Pakistan is keen to improve connectivity with Central Asian nations by establishing transport and communication links. These will be conducive to tapping the potential of trade, economic interaction, people-to-people contacts and tourism.The statement also mentioned that Pakistan and China have launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to provide seamless connectivity to ports at Gwadar and Karachi. Pakistan’s rail and road transport corridors can be utilised by land-locked Central Asian countries to have access to the country’s seaports.
