Pakistan, Azerbaijan JMC next month
By Hina Kiyani

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan-Azerbaijan Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) sceduled to be held next month will focus on Information Technology, Oil & Gas sectors and Privatisation & Investment. Dr. Eynulla Madatli Ambassador Extraordinary of Azerbaijan to Pakistan informed Mr. Zahid Hamid Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment in a meeting here today.
The envoy said that in view of the remarkable recent economic achievements made by Pakistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan intended to benefit from the experience of Pakistan in services, transport sectors, privatisation and investment fronts. Azerbaijan started privatisation of its State Owned Entities in 1995 after five years of its independence, he stated.
Zahid Hamid Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment assured the envoy of full assistance for benefiting from Pakistan’s experience in establishing the regulatory regimes and the process of open, fair and transparent privatisation and investment activities.
He informed the envoy that privatisation proceeds worth US $ 5.3 billion have been realized by privatising 58 transactions during the past seven years (from 1999 to 2006), which was 85 % of the total privatisation conducted since the inception of Privatisation Commission in 1991. The present government always gave priority to bring the private sector forward through the best privatisation program, which has been acknowledged worldwide by the international institutions, he added.
Kemal Gur Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan in a separate meeting while paying a farewell visit after serving more than four years in Pakistan informed the Minister that the Turkish investors were keen to invest in the power, wind energy and infrastructure sectors in Pakistan. Pakistan has vast potential of Hydel Power projects.
Efforts are also underway to increase the number of flights with new routes between the two countries through the joint flight operation. The existing strong relations between the governments and the peoples of both Turkey and Pakistan would be further strengthened in the days to come, he hoped.
Zahid Hamid lauded the efforts of the Turkish envoy made during his stay in Pakistan in further cementing the relations between the two countries.