00:00For the people of Pakistan, I always try to match his commitment, but of course he is
00:14ahead of me in this field and that is the foundation of this wonderful and beautiful
00:24relationship.
00:26Today, we have achieved another milestone.
00:34We had a wonderful one-on-one meeting today and then a delegation level meeting, we discussed
00:43everything under the sun, well there is no sun under the roof.
00:48And of course, agreed on a very clear cut way forward and I am very happy, happy to
01:02disclose this in this August assembly of prominent brothers and sisters from both Pakistan and
01:11Azerbaijan that we are going to enhance our bilateral trade which is just $14 million
01:24and hardly, hardly reflects the strength of our relationship to $2 billion as soon as
01:35we can.
01:37And this is not just a rhetoric.
01:40I can mention here that vast amounts of rice from Pakistan, its export, import duty has
01:51been very generously exempted by my dear brother and this is how we can really move forward.
02:00Certain items from Azerbaijan, Minister of Commerce sitting here and Deputy Prime Minister
02:06from Pakistan, we must focus on those areas where we can lower these tariffs so that our
02:16import and export can really enhance and increase.
02:20Of course, LNG is another trading commodity which can be added into our trading pool.
02:33I won't discuss defence equipment.
02:37Of course, JF-17 jet fighters is another high-ticket item which Pakistan and Azerbaijan are very
02:48actively pursuing.
02:51And I can say without any fear of contradiction, ladies and gentlemen, my dear brothers and
02:57sisters, that if we really put our act together, we can achieve $2 billion worth trade between
03:06our two great countries.
03:10Next and which is a very good news which has just been disclosed, once again told by my
03:18dear brother, President Ilham Aliyev, that we've agreed today that this $2 billion investment
03:29announcement which he very kindly made during his last visit to Pakistan, his second home,
03:39and my second home, Azerbaijan, we have today agreed that a lot of work has been done by
03:47both the teams.
03:49Great work and I really commend their hard efforts and deeply appreciate.
03:54But whatever small little gaps are there, we have fixed one month to crystallise everything
04:04and in April, I will be, and we will be rather, receiving our brother in Islamabad again to
04:12sign these agreements for $2 billion investment in Pakistan.
04:25For this, I must say, my brother, I am extremely, deeply appreciate your gesture and of course
04:33this is going to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.
04:37Both countries will benefit but to make this commitment is a great gesture and we must
04:45remember this wonderful contribution from your side and we will remember for all times
04:52to come.
04:53I must thank Azerbaijan's team, wonderful team sitting here and great Pakistani team
04:59sitting here and I think this is how the waters of Arabian Sea is meeting with waters
05:09of Caspian Sea.
05:10This love and affection, this vigour, this enormous energy and synergy is going to really
05:19transform our great fraternal relations into unprecedented trade and investment portfolios
05:31and commitments.
05:34One thing which, Excellency, you have mentioned and mentioned rightly so is the lack of information
05:44between the two business communities.
05:50What Azerbaijan has to offer to Pakistan in real terms and what Pakistan has to offer
05:58to our Azerbaijani business community, tariffs, our strength in agriculture, industry, IT
06:11and so on and so forth.
06:13So today I want to announce with your permission that we will constitute a permanent information
06:21bureau, comprising of both the countries, which will have the most modern gadgetries
06:27equipped with IT and of course also AI and relaying real-time information in both ways
06:39and this will be extremely helpful.
06:41I think this mechanism should be put in place from our side, Jam Kamal Sahib and of course
06:48our other honourable members of the team and of course whosoever you, my brother, appoint
06:54from your team and this team should then work out a very robust mechanism so that we can
07:01– this alone, this alone will step up our efforts in a very big way.
07:08Certainly our defence cooperation is there already from ages, but I think now is the
07:19time to look into, discuss and decide to have joint defence manufacturing facility shared
07:33between Pakistan and Azerbaijan and I think when this delegation will be visiting Pakistan
07:41in April, I think this will be one of the main items of agenda for discussion over there
07:49and when you would be visiting Pakistan, my brother, we can also anchor this part of our
07:57vision into reality in April, Inshallah, this year.
08:05And then of course, north-south corridor, unless we have efficient, reliable and cost-effective
08:16transportation system, connectivity, I don't think we will be able to achieve our targets
08:27in time to come and I think for that, we had very good discussion today during our bilateral
08:36meeting discussion and we will be fully supporting your vision in this behalf and I can assure
08:44you that Gwadar port can play a very pivotal role for promoting our trade inward and outward
08:55and I think let us focus on this and I think this will be a game changer and I want to
09:02assure you, my dear brother, that I will work very closely with you on this very important
09:09project.
09:10I am very happy to announce that Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce has been established in
09:20Islamabad and its offshoots in Lahore and Gujranwala, which will really facilitate our
09:29bilateral trade and I think this is what we should also be doing, having Pakistan Chamber
09:37of Commerce here in Baku and its satellites in other important cities here in Azerbaijan
09:47so that these chambers can really, in real time, collect information, exchange this information
09:56and pass it on to potential traders and investors, which will be very, very helpful.
10:03I will not take more time, my dear brother, once again, I would like to thank you very
10:11much for your great commitment towards our friendship between the two countries and I
10:20want to say this in all humility, but with total certainty at my command, that I will
10:32try to match your fervor, your commitment to really strengthen these relations in times
10:39to come, trilateral, you know, understanding between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan should
10:48be quadrupled and we will be talking on this subject in times to come, inshallah.
10:56I think there is enormous opportunities on both sides and the only thing is, you know,
11:05to put into action the will to do.
11:08Thank you very much, Azerbaijani-Pakistani friendship, dosti, zindabad.
11:27Thank you very much, my dear brother.
11:29We have a small presentation, just for some 10-15 minutes maximum.
11:37When I was visiting the Brazilian country last summer, we discussed how Azerbaijan can
11:44participate in the plans of Mr. Prime Minister to modernize and to restore some historical
11:51sites in Pakistan.
11:53So since that time, our team was working on that and prepared in agreement with the Pakistani
12:00side the vision for that and I think it will be interesting for everyone just to see what
12:08is being offered and that also will be a small part, but important part of our Brazilian
12:15relations.
12:16My, you know, sub would not be complete, it will remain incomplete if I did not mention
12:24the experts team which my brother sent to Islamabad.
12:30Islamabad, as you all know, is a beautiful city, you know, sitting on the foot of the
12:36mountains, but he has sent great experts who are doing a wonderful job in improving our
12:45landscape, you know, landscaping, hard and soft and greenery.
12:51Thank you very much and I think this will add to the beauty of Islamabad.
12:58I don't think it will match the beauty of Baku, but with your team, it will start competing.
13:04Thank you very much.
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