Zubair Qureshi
Pakistan has envisaged renewed “Engage Africa Policy” to strengthen its ties with all African countries and has decided to increase its diplomatic missions in the countries in addition to open the Pakistan’s Embassy in Djibouti owing to growing economic and political importance of the African region.
These views were expressed by Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani in a meeting with Mohamed Ali Houmed Acting Chairman of the African Union Parliament and President Djibouti National Parliament here at Parliament House on Tuesday.
President of Djibouti National Parliament Mohamed Ali Houmed is leading a 12-member delegation to Pakistan on the invitation of Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani. The exchange of parliamentary delegations would steer the agenda for enhanced economic, political and defence cooperation not only between the Pakistan and Djibouti but also with other African countries.
Pakistan eyes vibrant interactions to share the experiences in public sector reforms, technical cooperation, infrastructure development and private investment with the African countries.
Chairman Senate appreciated the visit of President of National Assembly of Djibouti to Pakistan during this testing time of COVID-19 and expressed the hope that his visit would strengthen the existing foundation of strong brotherly relations between Pakistan and Djibouti and would open new vistas of diplomatic, parliamentary and economic cooperation with the African region. Chairman Senate further appreciated the role of Djibouti to foster peace and stability among African nations and sought support to Pakistan to become observer member in Inter Governmental Development Authority (IGAD). Chairman Senate apprised the visiting delegation that there is vibrant Pakistan and Djibouti Friendship Group in Senate of Pakistan and two sides can work together to devise plan for increased Parliamentary relations and organizational linkages for mutual benefits of the Parliaments. Chairman Senate lauded the visionary role of President Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh for modernization and development of Djibouti. He apprised that trade between Pakistan and landlocked Ethiopia takes place through Djibouti and Pakistan needs special treatment for expeditious delivery of goods to Ethiopia. He emphasized to devise special package for Pakistani investors and entrepreneurs to invest and extend quality services for Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (DIFTZ) as it has been attracting investments from China, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other countries.
Chairman Senate expressed the need to build closer meteorological cooperation between Pakistan and Djibouti to monitor and track the movement of locust infestation in Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Horn of Africa. He informed that Pakistan has been providing training facilities to Djibouti in the fields of diplomacy, banking and railways. Sadiq Sanjrani assured continuous provision of technical expertise in fields like Information Technology (IT), Education, Banking, Diplomacy and showed keen interest to build sports linkages especially between football teams of Pakistan and Djibouti.
