15 agreements and MoUs signed for cooperation in diverse fields. Azerbaijan President Aliyev presented guard of honour at PM House.

ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan and Azerbaijan Thursday discussed to enhance investments worth two billion dollars in areas of mutually beneficial projects.

Addressing a joint press stake-out in Islamabad on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said teams of both the countries will further exchange views on this matter tomorrow and hopefully both the countries will be ready to ink an agreement during his upcoming visit to Azerbaijan.

He said Pakistan and Azerbaijan have immense investment potential worth billions of dollars in years to come.  He said the two countries have agreed to enhance bilateral trade as well.

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan has always supported Azerbaijan’s stand on Nagorno-Karabakh, while the latter has extended similar support for the cause of Kashmiris, who have paid huge sacrifices to achieve their right of self-determination as per UN Security Council resolutions.

The prime minister also conveyed his best wishes to the Azerbaijan President and its people as the country is prepared to host the COP29 in Baku. It will be significant international event for all developing countries, including Pakistan.

He said we are quite confident that under your leadership COP29 will deliver on the Climate Change related issues of developing countries like Pakistan.     

Speaking on the occasion, the Azeri President said his country looks forward to build a strong partnership with Pakistan at economic and trade level.  Expressing satisfaction over the existing level of political ties between the two countries, he said we will increase our bilateral trade volume. The Azeri President said we have identified nine initial priority areas for preferential trade. He said we have discussed several projects in areas of energy infrastructure and defence industry.

Referring to Shehbaz Sharif’s last year visit to Azerbaijan, lham Aliyev said the visit was a breakthrough and the two countries have always supported and cooperated with each other.

He said we now engage in practical elements of cooperation like trade, energy, investment and corridors of transportation.

The two sides also agreed to increase flights between Baku and Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed gratitude to the Azeri President for the decision to export duty free Pakistani rice to Azerbaijan.

Also, Pakistan and Azerbaijan have signed fifteen agreements and MoUs for cooperation in diverse fields.  The agreements and MoUs were exchanged at a ceremony in Islamabad today, witnessed by Prime Minster Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. These include: Consular Affairs, transit trade, preferential trade, privatization of state property, law and justice, mineral resources and geology, culture exchange program, cooperation in information technology and telecommunication, television production, scientific and technical cooperation, tourism, air services, establishment of twin cities of Baku and Islamabad, small and medium enterprises, literature and science.       

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was given the guard of honour as he arrived on Thursday at the PM House to meet Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, along with his high-powered delegation.

President Aliyev landed in the Federal Capital earlier in the afternoon for a two-day official visit, accompanied by a delegation comprising ministers and businessmen.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the visiting dignitary on his arrival at the venue of the formal welcome ceremony.

The national anthems of both countries were played as the Azerbaijan President stood at the salute dais along with the prime minister.

The smartly turned-out contingents of the Armed Forces presented the guard of honor to President.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday vowed to expand the Daanish Schools network to Balochistan, AJK, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad as he met Ayan Kashif, a student of Daanish School Mianwali, who clinched the first position in the matriculation examination of BISE Lahore.

The prime minister invited the student to the Prime Minister’s House to personally meet him and extend eetings on his achievement despite being an orphan with a humble financial background.

The prime minister congratulated the student, his mother and the school principal, also accompanying him, and said such talented youth could guarantee Pakistan’s progress as the government was also focusing on their skill and vocational training to make them employable and boost the country’s agriculture and industrial production.

He said that the government would build four Daanish schools in Balochistan and also establish the facility in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Ex-FATA districts and Islamabad. For the Islamabad campus, the land has been identified and the budget allocated, he added.

Ayan Kashif paid tribute to the prime minister for his vision of Daanish Schools which enabled him to excel in his studies.

As the prime minister questioned, he appreciated the facilities of the dormitory, uniform, food and stationery being provided there without any charge as his mother also applauded the professionalism and support of the school’s teaching staff.

“Daanish is a proud moment for us as children with low-income backgrounds with some being single orphans or double orphans are studying there. For the double orphans, Daanish schools prove to be their only support,” the prime minister said before giving away a a cheque of Rs1 million and a laptop to the student.

The prime minister told the gathering, also comprising federal ministers and senior government officers, that he got the idea of Daanish Schools as “it always pinched me that on one side the huge iron fences of Aitcheson College are obstructing the entry of poor students for the facility being limited to the children of elite class, landlords and senior officers. The poor can’t think of enrolling their children there.”

“I think this position goes to you sir,” the student said and arose to offer his medal to the prime minister which he returned affectionately amidst the clapping by the participants.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said the government was investing in skill and vocational training of youth to enhance their productivity and employability in multiple fields, like agriculture, information technology, export-bases industry, SMEs and freelancing.

To the suggestion of Ayan of elevating the Daanish Authority to the university level, the prime minister assured to convey it to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz whom he also lauded for carrying forward the vision effectively.

Ayan’s mother also thanked the prime minister and said the credit for his son’s achievement and her happiness went to the Daanish School and its highly professional faculty.

The prime minister said Daanish School offered market-competitive salaries to the teachers to ensure quality education to the students, despite protests at that time.

“The Aitcheson, Grammar Schools, Lawrence College, Convents and other private institutions charge huge fees from students and their parents can afford that. But if the students from poor families, who might be even more intelligent, remained deprived of quality education just for lacking resources, it would be nothing but the state’s failure,” he remarked.

In his comment, the school principal also said that at Daanish Schools, the prime minister’s vision was being materialised in a befitting manner.

PM stresses using technology for effective enforcement of customs duties

SLAMABAD, Jul 11 (APP):Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday emphasized the importance of taking comprehensive measures to eliminate corruption in customs operations. He stressed the need to remove unnecessary hurdles and utilize modern technology, including artificial intelligence and advanced equipment, to ensure the full enforcement of customs duties.

Chairing a meeting focused on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Pakistan Customs, the prime minister described the customs sector as the backbone of the country’s economy. He stated that reforms within the FBR and complete digitization would secure economic stability.

Prime Minister Shehbaz instructed the relevant authorities to ensure a third-party audit of reform initiatives in the FBR and other departments, consolidating all such projects under a single framework.

He directed efforts to increase revenue collection through enhanced enforcement measures and called for the establishment of a project management unit dedicated to reforms in the customs sector.

Addressing issues related to mis-invoicing, he stressed the need to resolve these problems and eliminate under-invoicing to protect Pakistan’s industries and products. He also requested detailed reports on revenue collection resulting from enforcement actions and called for the establishment of a regulatory framework for the operations of the shipping industry.

The prime minister emphasized the need for a third-party audit of the web-based one-customs system (WeBOC).

During the briefing on customs operations, it was reported that Pakistan Customs had fully automated its operations and engaged internationally renowned experts to implement reforms featuring modern AI-based systems.

It was noted that approximately 72.4 percent of imports and exports were cleared through the green channel. Pakistan Customs collected an additional Rs240 billion in revenue through valuation controls from July 2023 to June 2024, representing an 80% increase over the previous year’s collection.

Federal cabinet members Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Ali Pervaiz Malik, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan, Attorney General Mansoor Awan, PM’s Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzal, Member of the National Assembly Barrister Aqeel Malik, FBR Chairman Zubair Tiwana, and other senior officials attended the meeting.