Waheed Mahmood
Japanese Parliamentary minister calls on President
Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Monday said Pakistan was a natural conduit for trade and energy for Central and West Asia and urged Japanese government to raise its stakes Pak energy sectors, adding Pak hold huge potential of investments.
Talking to Makiko Kikuta, Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign affairs who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, he invited the Japanese investors to invest in the SEZs exclusively setup for Japanese investors.
Matters relating to Pak-Japan bilateral relations, mutual cooperation in various areas with particular focus on the promotion of trade and investment, ties between the two countries, and regional situation were discussed during the meeting.
The President appreciated the Japanese flood relief assistance for the flood-affected people of Pakistan. He thanked the Japanese government for their active support and pro-active involvement at FoDP Forum and the Donors Conference.
He also appreciated Japan’s role in the Pakistan Development Forum (PDF) and thanked for the economic assistance provided through this forum.
The President said Pakistan attached great importance to its friendly relations with Japan and regards it as an important friend and development partner. He said existing cooperation between the two countries needs to be enhanced and asked for Japanese assistance in trade, development, security, energy and institution building. He also urged enhancing the trade volume amounting to $1.6 billion between the two countries.
Discussing regional situation, the President appreciated constructive role of Japan in the global and Asian affairs and said Pakistan views Japan as an important player for peace, progress, cooperation and stability in the world. He said Pakistan desires stability, peace and development in the region and has always supported every effort of the international community in this regard.
The President said Pakistan has always called upon the international community to focus on creating windows of opportunity for the people of the region who are affected by terrorism to address the issue effectively on one hand and to promote socioeconomic development on the other. The President commenting on the fight against militancy said the Parliament had adopted the three D policy namely Dialogue, Development and Deterrence for fighting the militancy. He said when dialogue as a tool failed the government did not hesitate to use force even though in the process its forces and people had to offer great sacrifices.
However, a comprehensive strategy could not rely on force alone and had to adopt a holistic approach. That is why the government had been urging the international community to help it in the economic and educational development of the affected areas as critical tools for fighting terrorism in the long-run.
The Vice minister was accompanied by Japanese Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Ambassador Tadamichi Yamamoto and Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan Chihiro Atsumi. From Pakistani side those who attended the meeting included M Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Malik Asif Hayat, secretary to the President and other senior officials. -APP
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