Ankara and Islamabad continue to stand in solidarity in every field and discussed steps to further develop trade and investment relations.

Axar.az reports, citing Anadolu Agency, that Erdogan made the remarks in a joint news conference in Istanbul with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after bilateral and delegation-level talks.

“We reaffirmed our target of raising our trade volume to the previously set level of $5 billion,” he noted.

Erdogan said the trade ministries of the two countries are working on a planned special economic zone for Turkish businesspeople in Karachi, while talks are continuing on expanding the scope of the preferential trade agreement.

He said a business forum attended by Sharif earlier in the day would also contribute to relations in investment and trade.

“We also encourage our investors to operate more in Pakistan,” Erdogan said, adding that defense industry cooperation, one of the key elements of economic ties, continues to advance with new projects.