Pakistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to explore joint venture opportunities aimed at enhancing bilateral trade through Pakistan’s key maritime gateways — the Karachi and Gwadar ports — as Islamabad continues efforts to establish itself as a regional transit hub.
The understanding was reached during a meeting between Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Kazakh Ambassador Yerzhan Kistafin in Islamabad, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs said in a statement issued.
During the meeting, both sides discussed ways to promote economic cooperation, with particular focus on connectivity, trade, and port logistics. Minister Chaudhry proposed the establishment of joint ventures at the Karachi and Gwadar ports, including within the free zones of Gwadar, as part of broader efforts to integrate Pakistan’s port infrastructure with Central Asian trade corridors.
The minister underlined the strategic importance of Pakistan’s seaports, terming them “gateways” that offer landlocked Central Asian states — including Kazakhstan — direct access to global markets in the Arabian Gulf, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Ambassador Kistafin, for his part, expressed Kazakhstan’s interest in utilising Pakistan’s ports as regional transit points. He said a high-level Kazakh delegation, led by the country’s minister for communications, is expected to visit Pakistan in the near future for detailed discussions on maritime trade cooperation and logistics development.
The statement noted that the two sides are looking to deepen trade ties under Islamabad’s “Vision Central Asia” policy, which aims to bolster cooperation with Central Asian Republics in the fields of politics, trade, energy, investment, and people-to-people contacts.
The Karachi and Gwadar ports play a vital role in Pakistan’s maritime economy. While Karachi handles the bulk of the country’s imports and exports, Gwadar — situated near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz — serves as a linchpin of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and a potential hub for regional connectivity.
Islamabad hopes that greater utilisation of its port infrastructure will help drive economic activity and strengthen its position as a key trade and transit link between Central and South Asia.
