Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif meets top businesspeople in Türkiye
Sharif, who was in Ankara to attend swearing-in ceremony for Turkish President Erdogan, invites Turkish companies to invest in Pakistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has met with leading businesspeople in the Turkish capital, its embassy in Ankara said, inviting them to invest in multiple sectors of the South Asian country.
Sharif, who was in Ankara for the swearing-in of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, invited Turkish businesspeople to establish strategic collaboration in energy, agriculture, information technology and construction.
Sharif spoke about his government's vision to facilitate foreign direct investment and encouraged joint ventures.
"Their exchanges spanned around expanding trade and investment ties to maximise mutual gains from available opportunities in Pakistan and to enhance cooperation in key sectors of the economy through the direct presence of Turkish enterprises and via joint ventures with Pakistani counterparts," Pakistani embassy statement said.
Sharif also assured Turkish firms of complete facilitation and a conducive environment in Pakistan, citing a trade agreement between the two countries signed last year that took effect on May 1.
"The Prime Minister also held separate meetings with select leading Turkish companies that have already invested in Pakistan, including Anadolu Group, Arcelik, Zorlu, Albayrak, Limak, Dolsar, Turkish Contractors Association and Pak Yetiri," said the statement, adding the prime minister encouraged them to benefit from an investment-friendly environment and expand their operations.
"The Turkish companies briefed the Prime Minister on their existing and future plans for investment, while thanking the Prime Minister for facilitating their operations in Pakistan," it said.
Annual budget
Sharif's government is due to present its annual budget next week, and the nation has already downgraded its growth forecast for the year ending June 30 from five percent to 0.3 percent.
Pakistan's year-on-year inflation has hit a record 37.97 percent in May, official data revealed on Thursday, with the nation on the brink of economic collapse and crucial bailout talks stalled.
Years of financial mismanagement have pushed Pakistan's economy to the limit, exacerbated by a global energy crisis and devastating floods that submerged a third of the country in 2022.
A political crisis has added another layer of uncertainty — with opposition leader Imran Khan's brief arrest last month sparking deadly street violence and a days-long state-ordered mobile internet blackout.
In the background, negotiations to unlock a crucial tranche of a $6.5 billion loan deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund have been deadlocked for months.
Pakistan needs billions of dollars in financing to service staggering levels of external debt, and foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to just $4.2 billion, barely enough for a month of imports.