Pakistan's Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has hosted Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Pakistan, Alisher Tukhtaev, for talks on expanding bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting, held in Islamabad on Tuesday, focused on finding mutually beneficial opportunities in textiles, food processing, agriculture, real estate and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), according to a statement carried by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

Connectivity and business ties on the agenda

The two sides also discussed stronger regional connectivity, closer business-to-business collaboration and ways to make cross-border investment and commercial partnerships easier. The talks looked at opening new transit corridors through Central Asia under existing transit trade arrangements, as well as joint planning on transit rail links.

The SIFC presented itself as the central platform for investment facilitation, offering coordinated institutional support to international investors and helping connect them with the relevant stakeholders in Pakistan.

Uzbekistan is one of several Central Asian states with which Pakistan has been deepening economic engagement in recent years, with both countries keen to raise bilateral trade well above its current level and to turn shared interests in agriculture, manufacturing and logistics into concrete projects.

Read the full reports at Tez Khabar (APP) and Pakistan Truth.