Pakistan and Brunei signed an agreement in Islamabad to promote bilateral trade and increase economic cooperation, officials said. The agreement, reached on Thursday after a two-day meeting between the two countries, contains concrete proposals and recommendations for the promotion of bilateral trade, an official statement said. The Brunei delegation was led by Dato Pakduka Haji Suyio Bin Haji Osman, permanent secretary to the ministry of foreign affairs while the Pakistan side was headed by Nawid Ahsan, secretary of economic affairs.
Both sides explored the possibility of collaboration in the fields of textile products, engineered goods and surgical instruments, and stressed the need to increase exchanges of business leaders to speed up cooperation, it said. The commission's meeting followed military ruler general Pervez Musharraf's visit to Brunei in April when the two countries decided to foster cooperation in public and private sectors.
The visiting delegation expressed keen interest in Pakistan's privatization programme which offers key state units for sale, the statement said, adding that Pakistan had invited oil-rich Brunei to invest in its petroleum sector. The agreement will lay a sound foundation for future cooperation between the two brotherly countries, the statement said.
Bureau Report