ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has appreciated the decision to import rice from Pakistan with tax exemption of five years.

Addressing an international conference “Along the Middle Corridor: Geopolitics, Security and Economy” at ADA University, Baku, the president said the decision was the outcome of his meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the last couple of months during which they discussed bilateral relations.

The President of Azerbaijan was responding to questions raised by Executive Director of Centre for Global and Strategic Studies of Pakistan Khalid Taimur Akram as a participant.

The president said he discussed with Pakistan’s Prime Minister the prospects of further intensifying the bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the decision over special regulations for rice was a reflection of that.

He said they had decided to take this step in order to stimulate the growth of mutual trade between the two countries. He added that they also discussed what goods they could provide to each other.

“Why should we buy rice from some other place if we have high quality rice in the brotherly country. So, that decision was clearly based on our brotherly relations,” the Azeri media quoted the president as saying.

Commenting further, the Azerbaijan president said that his country enjoyed excellent relations with Pakistan.

President Aliyev further said they are grateful to Pakistan for continuous support demonstrated with respect to Azerbaijan-Armenia relations.

“During the times of occupation, during the war, and after liberation of our territories, Pakistan was always with us. And this political and moral support is highly appreciated by the people of Azerbaijan,” he added.

He said Gwadar Port of Pakistan was transforming into a big international hub and connecting it with their infrastructure was not difficult as they had to address issue of tariffs, legal framework, coordination on regulation and teamwork.

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