Pakistan, Lanka ties further strengthened:

Pakistan schols for six students in North

The Pakistani government will offer scholarships to six students from the Northern part of Sri Lanka, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said.

Gilani also said the Pakistani government intends to further enhance bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and welcomed the convening of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) in Colombo, which will be held after a gap of six years.

He stressed that the JEC should meet every year to expand the scope of bilateral economic and commercial relations.

Both countries have been engaged in concerted efforts to increase bilateral trade since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement.

Pakistan's exports to Sri Lanka have reached the US$ 300 million mark while imports are around US$ 50 million.

Gilani who met a Sri Lankan delegation headed by Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen at the PM House said that Pakistan looks forward to greater cooperation in the fields of education and science and technology.

While expressing his appreciation for high quality of the Sri Lankan gems and jewellery sector, the Prime Minister desired technical assistance to develop Pakistan's gems and jewellery industry with the same professionalism as in Sri Lanka.

"Pakistan is happy to continue to extend scholarships to Sri Lankan students under the Pakistan Technical Programme."

Bathiudeen thanked Gilani and the Pakistan government for sending Sacred Buddha Relics to Sri Lanka. The President, the Prime Minister and the people have greatly appreciated this friendly gesture, he said. The Prime Minister was happy to note the enthusiasm with which the people of Sri Lanka have responded to the Ghandara artefact exhibition for which Pakistan had sent the Buddha Relics to Colombo last month.

Gilani congratulated Minister Bathiudeen on Sri Lanka's successful campaign against terrorism. He said that Pakistan too has achieved a number of successes in the war against terror and arrested or killed main terrorist leaders, yet splinter groups are still engaged in sabotage activities.

He was confident that Pakistan would soon succeed in stamping out this menace from the country.

Minister Bathiudeen expressed the Sri Lankan government's deep appreciation for Pakistan's unstinted support to Sri Lanka in the fight against terrorism. Bathiudeen said after 17 years of war against terrorism, Sri Lanka has now embarked on rehabilitation. He said that Sri Lanka looked forward to support and the cooperation of Pakistan. Pakistani Premier Gilani extended an invitation to the President and Prime Minister to visit Pakistan and was looking forward to meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Maldives at the next SAARC Summit in November this year.

Minister Bathiudeen held a bilateral meeting with the Pakistani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs who also hosted a lunch in his honour and later addressed a joint press conference.

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Pakistan's exports to Lanka $ 283.142 m last year: Amin Fahim

Pakistan's Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said Thursday that during 2010, exports from Pakistan to Sri Lanka stood at US $ 283.142 million, while Pakistan imported goods worth US $ 54.602 million from Sri Lanka.

Fahim said so addressing a dinner party held in honour of the visiting Sri Lankan trade delegation headed by Industries and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.

The pace of growth was encouraging for both countries, he said adding Pakistan's exports are mainly rice, fish, cotton yarn and pharmaceutical goods etc. while imports are limited mainly to tea, fruits and seeds etc.

The minister said creating awareness among the business communities of the two countries about the benefits available to them from the Pak-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is an effective way to leveraging bilateral and regional trading arrangements. Fahim termed the 10th Joint Economic Commission session between Pakistan and Sri Lanka as a welcome development and said, Pakistan looks forward to progress on all outstanding commercial and economic initiatives between the two countries.

Both countries may extract maximum trade and commercial benefits from the bilateral, regional and multilateral arrangements for the betterment of their people, Amin Fahim said.