TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa and his Pakistani counterpart, Bikawal Bhutto Zardari, shared Monday the view that the two countries need to enhance bilateral economic ties.

In the first Japan-Pakistan foreign ministers’ meeting in some four years, held in Tokyo, Hayashi asked Bhutto Zardari to improve the business environment in Pakistan, such as by establishing investment rules, so the South Asian country with a high population growth rate and abundant younger people “can fully unlock its high economic potential.”

In response, Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said Japan and Pakistan will strengthen their relations in the fields of trade, manpower development and farming.

They also agreed to accelerate bilateral talks for allowing more Pakistani people with certain expertise to work in Japan.

Bhutto Zardari met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the prime minister’s office later in the day.     

JIJI Press