Turkiye Wants To Strengthen Trade, Economic Ties With Pakistan: Ambassador Neziroglu

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2025) Ambassador of Turkiye Irfan Neziroglu has said that Turkiye and Pakistan enjoy deep-rooted historical ties. Turkiye is keen to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in multiple sectors including defence, tourism, business, agriculture and higher education.

He stated this in a meeting with business leaders here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), where the LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad, Senior Vice President Engineer Khalid Usman Vice President Shahid Nazir Chaudhry also spoke on the occasion. Executive Committee Members Mian Aamir Saeed, Ahsan Shahid, Firdous Nisar, Karamat Ali Awan, Syed Salman Ali, Irfan Ahmed Qureshi, Ahad Ameen Malik, Asif Khan and Muhammad Imran Salimi Waqas Aslam were also present.

The Ambassador stressed the need for a mindset shift saying that they are one nation and must act in unison with a sense of common purpose. He said that there is immense potential to boost trade and economic ties between the two brotherly nations.

LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad expressed profound gratitude to the people of Turkiye for standing firmly with Pakistan in critical times. “We also deeply appreciate our Turkish brothers who prayed for Pakistan’s safety. It would not be wrong to say that Turkiye stood as an equal partner with Pakistan in achieving this historic success against India. May Allah bless the people of Turkiye”, he added.

Mian Abuzar Shad highlighted the strong diplomatic relations between the two countries, rooted in cultural, religious geo-political ties. He said that it is good to see that the growing cooperation between our nations in diverse fields such as economy, politics, defence and culture.

He said, the Preferential Trade Agreement signed in 2022 has paved the way for expanding two-way trade.

"We are determined to make the most of the 261 tariff lines provided by Turkiye for easier market access."

The LCCI, as Pakistan’s largest business support organization, is actively engaging its members to benefit from the opportunities in the Turkish market, especially in sectors like leather, rice, dates, mangoes, cutlery, sports goods, seafood, processed agricultural products, rubber, tyres, plastics engineering goods.

The LCCI President mentioned that Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye stood at USD 323 million in 2022-23, rising to USD 335 million in 2023-24. In the same period, imports from Turkiye increased from USD 478 million to over USD 491 million.

He said that in the current fiscal year (2024-25), from July to March, Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye are USD 221 million, while imports have reached USD 518 million. "We are optimistic that this positive trend in bilateral trade will continue and grow further,"

While highlighting Turkiye’s global trade stature, Mian Abuzar Shad said that Turkiye’s exports surpassed USD 260 billion while imports reached nearly USD 344 billion in 2024.

He said that while Pakistan’s exports to Turkiye are largely textile-based, imports mainly comprise machinery, iron & steel, chemicals plastic items. We aim to reduce our trade deficit and raise the total trade volume with Turkiye to at least USD 5 billion.

LCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Khalid Usman and Vice President Shahid Nazir Chaudhry highlighted the importance of organizing trade delegations and single-country exhibitions expressed LCCI’s willingness to establish strong ties with leading chambers of commerce in Turkiye under the Ambassador’s guidance.