Pakistan Russia Inter Governmental Commision meeting scheduled
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) meeting is scheduled to be held in Moscow on November 26 to 28. Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir will represent Pakistan in IGC meeting.
Inter-governmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and Pakistan was created to aid the development of mutual cooperation in the fields of trade and economy, science, technology and education.
Officials said that economic and trade relations between Islamabad and Moscow have remained severely affected for about five decades because of cold war tensions, even though Pakistan’s two major ventures—the Pakistan Steel Mills and the largest hydrocarbon producer Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC)—came into being with financial and technical support of the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1960s.
The two sides have been cosying up over a couple of years and have signed a few memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in recent months, enabling Russian energy firms to enter Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration and production sectors through government-to-government contracts, officials added.
Pakistan was Russia’s 73rd largest trading partner in the 2nd quarter of 2017 (up from 82nd in the 2nd quarter of 2016), accounting for 0.0911 per cent of Russia’s total trade (up from 0.0739 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2016).
In addition to this, Pakistan was Russia’s 78th largest export market in the 2nd quarter of 2017 (up from 87th in the 2nd quarter of 2016), accounting for 0.0861 per cent of Russia’s total exports (up from 0.0466 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2016).
