Pakistan and Bangladesh resume Joint Economic Commission meeting after two decades
Islamabad, Hilal Ahmad, October 27, AZERTAC
Pakistan and Bangladesh have resumed the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting after a two-decade hiatus. According to Bangladeshi media reports, the meeting was held in Dhaka on Monday, where Pakistan expressed interest in importing jute from Bangladesh.
During the talks, Bangladesh’s delegation was led by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, while Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik headed his country’s team. The Joint Economic Commission, the highest-level institutional mechanism for economic cooperation between the two countries, last convened in 2005 in Islamabad.
Speaking to reporters, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said that Pakistan had shown interest in boosting bilateral trade, including the import of jute. He added that both sides emphasized the need to revive regional cooperation under the framework of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
The two-day meeting discussed cooperation in agriculture, information technology, food, aviation, shipping, and several other sectors.
According to Bangladeshi officials, annual trade between the two countries remains below $1 billion. In FY2025, Bangladesh imported goods worth $787 million from Pakistan and exported goods worth $80 million. Pakistan mainly imports jute and jute yarn from Bangladesh. Both countries have expressed their intention to enhance bilateral trade and expand collaboration across multiple sectors.
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