Nigeria, Pakistan revamp joint commission to strengthen economic, trade relations

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said the Nigeria-Pakistan joint commission will be revamped as a veritable platform to strengthen economic and trade relations between both countries.

Buhari gave the assurance on Saturday in Istanbul at a bilateral meeting with prime Minister Shahidkhakanabbasi, on the margins of the ninth d-8 summit in turkey.

The president, who expressed satisfaction with the level of defence and military cooperation between both countries, however agreed with the prime minister that there was still room to do more.

He regretted that same could not be said of the economic and trade relations, which he said had fallen far short of what can be achieved by both countries.

While noting that Nigeria had failed to use past earnings to create a commensurate level of socio-economic development, the president assured that 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 then urged Pakistan to take full advantage of the new climate of investment promoted by his administration.

On the fight against terrorism, president Buhari told the Pakistani prime minister that the Boko Haram terrorist group remains degraded noting that even the opposition party in Nigeria recognises that there has been a remarkable improvement in the security situation in the northeast of the country.

In his remarks, Abbasi said both countries had similar prospects and challenges, including large populations, key regional players in economy and security; the fight against terrorism, improving governance and the domestic economy.

He said Pakistan will 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.