ISLAMABAD - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who is arriving here Monday night on a one-day official visit to Pakistan said the excellent bilateral relations are being transformed into economic partnership for the mutual benefit of both the countries.

“The excellent bilateral relations are already being transformed into a vibrant economic partnership as both the countries want to build strong mutual relations,” he told APP in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said bilateral relations and regional developments will be on the agenda during his visit to the federal capital. Turkey and Pakistan enjoy deep-rooted and time-tested relations of brotherhood, he added.

“We are not geographically neighbors, but the affinity between Turkey and Pakistan is unique as the close ties between our countries derive its strength from the brotherly relations between our peoples.”

To a question, he said the potential for economic cooperation and integration between Turkey and Pakistan has not yet been fully tapped despite similar economic structures and efforts of entrepreneurs of the two countries.

Cavusoglu said a major reason for this was weak logistic connections. “I believe that strengthening logistic connectivity between the two countries and further to Eurasia will bring a strong impetus to the integration between the two countries. We are working on increasing our transport connectivity by all means. Flights have been increased and need to be increased even further.”

He said container train service on Istanbul-Islamabad corridor would provide a fast, reliable and low-cost alternative that has a potential to boost trade relations.

BALO (Great Anatolia Logistics Organization) is undertaking feasibility studies for strengthening coordination and initiating further investments for this train service. Road Transport Joint Commission between the two countries will hold its second meeting in Islamabad this month.

The Turkish foreign minister said people-to-people connections were also of great importance for fostering connectivity and integration between Turkey and Pakistan.

Turkish and Pakistani business communities are also cooperating at the regional and trilateral level in the organizations and mechanisms such as the Federation of D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Economic Cooperation Organization Chambers of Commerce and Istanbul Forum for Economic Cooperation between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“To foster entrepreneurship and innovation in three countries and the relations between young entrepreneurs, the Forum aims to establish business incubation centres similar to GARAJ incubation centre in TOBB University of Economics and Technology with the assistance of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA),” he said.

The Turkish foreign minister said the trade volume with Pakistan exceeded US$ 1 billion in 2011. “Unfortunately, it decreased to US$ 599.6 million in 2015.

We need to increase our trade volume which is far below the potential. In this regard, diversification of our trade is essential.”

The signing of a Free Trade Agreement without delay, he said, would also make a significant contribution to the bilateral trade while the two sides were considering opening trade centres in each other’s countries.

He said Turkish companies’ investments in Pakistan currently stand at US$ 900 million.

Pakistan has its own energy resources such as hydro-electric, coal, oil and natural gas, shale gas and alternative energy resources such as solar and wind. Turkish companies that have experience in energy projects around the world have already been involved in some of these fields in Pakistan with successful results.

“Energy is a field in which we expect more Turkish companies to participate,” the minister said. He said Pakistan was the world’s fourth largest producer of milk, fourth largest holder of livestock, fifth largest producer of wheat, among top rice producers and of course in mango production as well.

“Turkey has made important reforms in agriculture and has a very developed food processing industry. We can not only trade with each other, but also can bring know-how and process agricultural products in Pakistan, for exports to other countries.”

He said Turkish textile companies, with their developed technical capabilities and investment capacity, were also encouraged to explore this sector for joint ventures.

“Infrastructure is another area where Turkish companies have extensive international experience. Turkish contractors have undertaken 8,693 projects in 107 countries with a total value of US$ 322.6 billion. At present, 42 Turkish companies are included among the Top 250 International Contractors List with an annual turnover of US$ 19.3 billion in 2015. “With this figure Turkey ranked second in the world after People’s Republic of China. On the other hand, Turkey is among the world’s top 12 producers of building materials such as cement, glass, steel and ceramic tiles. Despite the effects of global crisis in the international markets that were felt in 2008, Turkish international contracting services fared quite well in this period, he asserted

“Pakistan is a very important partner not only for Turkey, but also for entire international community in our joint fight against terrorist networks. We appreciate efforts of Pakistan in dealing with this threat. We have exemplary cooperation with Pakistan in countering terrorism,” he affirmed.

He said Turkey and Pakistan had decided to sign a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement at the Fourth High Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting held in February 2015 in Islamabad. The next round will take place at the end of this month in Islamabad. “I am confident the FTA will be finalized by the end of September this year as it was decided by our leaders. It will not only strengthen our trade relations, but also will contribute significantly to developing our bilateral investments,” he concluded.