ANKARA, 25 January 2016: The Minister for
Housing, Urban Development & Public Health of the Government of Punjab,
Tanveer Aslam Malik, leading a high-level delegation of senior government
officials and private sector executives, met with Turkish Minister for
Environment and Urbanization Ms. Fatma Güldemet SARI in Ankara today.
In tete-e-tete and delegation-level
talks, the two sides held a detailed exchange of views on multiple dimensions
of Pakistan-Turkey relations and reaffirmed the commitment of the top
leadership to forge a strong bilateral economic partnership, commensurate with
the excellent political relationship.
Minister Tanveer Malik recalled the visit
of Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif to Turkey in December 2015,
during which he had met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu and had discussed ways of further deepening trade, investment
and economic cooperation with Turkey. Noting the ongoing projects in Pakistan
like Metro bus, solid waste management and wind mill, Minister Malik stressed
that Pakistan was looking forward to Turkish investment in a range of sectors –
including energy, infrastructure development, agro-based industry, and
municipal services. He also highlighted the Punjab Government’s special focus
on low-cos
Turkish Minister Fatma Güldemet SARI
fully reciprocated the desire for deepening and broadening the economic
relationship between Turkey and Pakistan and affirmed Turkey’s readiness to
share its experience in urban planning, housing, and other related fields. The
Minister also highlighted the extensive work of the Housing Development
Administration of Turkey (TOKI) in the housing sector in Turkey and added that
the Turkish side would be glad to share the accumulated knowledge and experience,
adapted to Pakistan’s environment and specific requirements.
The Punjab delegation’s visit is aimed at
learning from Turkish experience in provision of low-cost housing. It is in
follow-up of the recent agreement reached between the Government of Punjab and
TOKI. Under the Memorandum of Intent signed by the two sides, TOKI will provide
technical consultancy support to the Punjab Government in its endeavours to
provide 25,000 housing units in 2016 and further 25,000 in 2017.
In this context, the Chief Minister
during his visit to Turkey in December 2015 had also met with TOKI President.
In response to his request, President of TOKI visited Lahore in early January
2016 and reached the understanding for closer collaboration in the low-cost
housing benefiting from TOKI’s financial, technical, managerial and business
model.
The Punjab delegation will have detailed
meetings with the President and senior officials of TOKI, besides visiting mass
housing projects and urban renewal development projects in Ankara and Istanbul.
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