ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan and Afgh­anistan resolved on Thursday to expand bilateral trade to $5 billion from the current $2.5bn in two to three years.

In a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Dr Omar Zakhilwal, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Prime Minister Nawaz Shairf placed great emphasis on strong, stable and cooperative ties with Afghanistan “as part of his vision for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood”.

Highlighting Pakis­tan’s economic engagement in Afghanistan, he made special mention of projects like a 100-bed Naeb Aminullah Khan Hospital at Logar, hostel for 100 students at Rehman Baba School and a 200-bed Jinnah Hospital at Kabul.

He assured Zakhilwal that these projects would be completed soon.

Senator Ishaq Dar also briefed his counterpart on projects related to energy, road and rail links, emphasising frequent interaction between officials of both the countries for better results.

Kabul proposes Joint Pakistan-Afghanistan Business Council

Zakhilwal said the new leadership of Afghanistan looked forward to forge economic cooperation with Pakistan.

He said the Afghan President also wished to see the volume of bilateral trade doubled in the coming years.

He mentioned that he had proposed the idea of Joint Pakistan-Afgha­nistan Business Council at a meeting with the Lahore Chamber of Com­­­­­­­m­­­­­erce and Industry the other day and would extend all out support to see this realised.

“This would surely help boost trade and economic interaction,” he said.—APP

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2014