ISLAMABAD, Nov. 12, Reuter: Pakistani trade and Planning Minister Mahbubul Haq said on Thursday he would be visiting Moscow soon to discuss boosting trade with the Soviet Union.
The official APP news agency ‘quoted him as saying Pakistan, at odds with its giant near neighbor over the guerrilla war in Afghanistan, was keen (o expand commercial relations,
Moscow has offered to help in the steel, oil and other energy fields and to provide credit for power stations and for 10 private projects, he said, without elaborating.
Haq said that in his view bilateral trade could be increased by four or five times. At present worth barely 100 million dollars a year.
Moscow’s main commercial involvement in Pakistan has been assistance and loans for the Karachi steel mill, a 1.6 billion dollar plant inaugurated in January, 1985, with a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes a year.
In financial 1985/86 (July June) Pakistani exports were worth 67 million dollars against imports of 33 million. In the first nine months of 1986/87 its exports were 58 million dollars and imports from the Soviet Union ‘only 15 million.
Dear Editor:
Please accept my heartiest congratulations for brilliantly expounding the views of the Sikh nation as reported in the October 24, 1987, issue of the Tribune, Chandigarh, and Punjab.
Amarjit S. Buttar
Vernon, Ct.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 20, 1987
