Pakistani authorities hope to reduce customs and banking barriers between the two countries in order to boost economic relations. Work in this direction is underway, Omar Ayub Khan, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, who is in Yekaterinburg to participate in the Russian-Pakistani intergovernmental commission, told TASS on Thursday.
"At present, the Pakistani and Russian sides are negotiating in two areas that can give impetus to the development of economic ties between the countries, namely on customs duties and banking cooperation. If we make efforts in these directions, we will see results. Our countries are discussing how to remove customs and banking barriers to increase investment in Pakistan," he said.
Ayub Khan noted that during the Soviet era, a major joint project was the Pakistani steel plant in Karachi. At the moment, the countries are working on the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline with a length of more than 1 thousand kilometers. The launch of the project, according to the minister, "will give confidence" to other Russian companies that they can invest in any area of interest, such as metallurgy, energy, automotive industry.
"There are other areas in which Russia could invest. Pakistan's economy is quite large, but people don't know that. Officially, Pakistan's GDP is $300 billion, but there is an undocumented sector that is also $300 billion. All in all, Pakistan's economy is estimated at $600 billion," the minister said.
According to Ayub Khan, the education of Pakistani students in Russia is also of interest in the framework of bilateral cooperation. Young people could get higher education in engineering, exact sciences, genetics and other fields.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS