The two sides are also celebrating 70 years of diplomatic ties
Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, in Berlin and discussed a number of matters of mutual importance including boosting trade ties between the two countries and the current peace talks between the various stakeholders in Afghanistan. Qureshi, who was on a two-day official visit of Germany, also later met with President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schauble and other high-ranking government officials.
70 years of diplomatic ties
The two sides also celebrate 70 years of diplomatic ties in 2021. Germany currently homes more than 100,000 people of Pakistani origin as well. The two countries have maintained friendly ties over the years and one can expect the bond to only get stronger with time.
CPEC Opportunities
Qureshi also met a number of business leaders and apprised them of the opportunities in Pakistan regarding CPEC. He told the business community that the government was giving incentives to investors as it wants Gawadar to be a regional hub for business. He lauded Germany’s supportive role in helping Pakistan achieve the GSP Plus status in the European Union and for not allowing the “politicizing of Financial Action Task Force (FATF)”. Several companies expressed their interest in investing the different projects.
15 million COVID vaccines gift
Germany also committed to providing Pakistan with 15 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by Mat through the COVAX program. The vaccines are crucial at this point in time as the number of cases in Pakistan are on the rise and there is a fair shortage of availability of the vaccines. The gesture clearly show the strong nature of relations between the two sides.