Pakistan-Macedonia relations to be comprehensively upgraded, says Ambassador Sohail Mahmood as he presents Credentials

Ankara, 27 June 2016: Pakistan and Macedonia have resolved to intensify efforts for comprehensive upgradation of bilateral cooperation in diverse fields. This was affirmed during the visit of Pakistan’s Ambassador Sohail Mahmood (resident in Ankara) to Skopje for presentation of credentials to the President of Macedonia Dr. Gjorge Ivanov.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood conveyed cordial greetings to the Macedonian President from the leadership of Pakistan and their best wishes for peace, progress and prosperity of the people of Macedonia. He also underlined Pakistan’s desire to foster simultaneous progress in government-to-government, business-to-business, and people-to-people relations with Macedonia.

President Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, in his remarks on the occasion, expressed the belief that Macedonia and Pakistan, “characterized by rich and ancient tradition, will have many possibilities to boost both bilateral and multilateral cooperation.” Welcoming the new Envoy, he expressed his confidence that Ambassador Sohail would contribute by “introducing new contents and forms of cooperation” and assured full support and assistance of the Macedonian Government in these endeavours.

Earlier, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood called on Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki and had a detailed exchange of views on bilateral relations. The shared commitment to deepen mutual cooperation in the diplomatic, political, trade, investment, education, culture and people-to-people spheres was affirmed. Both sides placed a special emphasis on intensifying economic cooperation and benefiting from the vast untapped opportunities for trade and investment collaboration in the two countries. Views were also exchanged on regional and international issues as well as recent developments in the immediate neighbourhood of the two countries.

Later, the visiting Envoy had separate meetings with senior officials of the Foreign Ministry, during which ideas were exchanged on deepening mutual collaboration at bilateral and multilateral fora. 

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood also visited the Economic Chamber of Macedonia and discussed ways to promote its regular interaction with counterpart institutions in Pakistan.