Bahrain, Pakistan agree to boost trade

Manama : The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi, yesterday agreed to reinvigorate economic and investment relations between their countries to boost the current bilateral trade volume of  $310 million. The two sides expressed the commitment as Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid telephoned Shah Mehmood Qureshi to congratulate him on assuming the office of foreign minister, Pakistan newspaper The News reported.

The two foreign ministers agreed to revive institutional mechanisms of joint ministerial commission and bilateral political consultations to explore fresh avenues of bilateral cooperation. Foreign Minister Qureshi congratulated Shaikh Khalid on achieving the Tier-1 status on anti-human trafficking efforts and termed it a remarkable achievement that made the entire Muslim world proud, The News reported.

Shaikh Khalid stressed the keenness of the Kingdom to support these relations and to continue joint cooperation between both countries to achieve common aspirations. Shaikh Khalid also said that he looks forward to the second meeting of the Joint Bahraini-Pakistani Ministerial Committee which will be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain next year. For his part, the Pakistan Minister expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for his congratulations.

The Pakistan Minister affirmed the pride of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in its strong and distinguished relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain, praising the stances of the Kingdom of Bahrain that support the security and stability of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and wishing the Kingdom further progress and prosperity. He expressed gratitude for Bahrain’s assistance in setting up Hamad University in Islamabad and for hosting more than 100,000 Pakistani workers in Bahrain.