President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said the Nigeria-Pakistan Joint Commission would be revamped as a veritable platform to strengthen economic and trade relations between both countries.
President Buhari said this at a bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi, on the sidelines of the ninth D-8 summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
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The President, who was pleased with the level of defence and military cooperation between both countries, agreed with the Prime Minister that there was still room to do more.
He, however, regretted that same could not be said on the economic and trade fronts which he said had fallen far short of what can be achieved by both countries.
”Nigeria-Pakistan cooperation is very historical. Military training has been very consistent and I am impressed by the efficiency of officers trained in Pakistan but the performance of our countries in relation to trade and industrial cooperation had been very disappointing,” he said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Garba Shehu.
President Buhari told Abbasi that Nigeria had failed to use past earnings to create a commensurate level of socio-economic development.
But he said his administration had identified the problems and was ardently working to promote national development through international trade, industrial growth and the improvement of infrastructure.
He also urged Pakistan to take full advantage of the new climate of investment promoted by his administration, saying “there are a lot of opportunities for us to harness in the manufacturing sector, agriculture, commerce, solar energy and the electricity sector.”
On the fight against terrorism, the President said: “We have moved them (Boko Haram terrorists) out from their strongholds in the North East.”
“We have denied them space and even their attacks on soft targets are becoming less often. Even the opposition [party] recognises that there is a considerable improvement of security in the North East.”
On his part, the Pakistani Prime Minister said both countries had similar prospects and challenges, including large population, key regional players in economy and security, fight against terrorism, improving governance and the domestic economy.
He said his country would continue to share experiences with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism towards developing effective strategies and results.
In line with this promise, the Pakistani Prime Minister presented a manual on strategy and tactics of dealing with terrorism to the President which he said had been put together by his country’s army.
He said his country is ready to convene the next meeting of the Joint Commission, adding that he would personally receive the Nigerian delegation any time.
He also requested President Buhari to undertake a state visit to Pakistan at the earliest possible time.
