TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 25 (UPI) -- Islamabad aims to buy surplus electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan under a series of bilateral trade initiatives, the Pakistani prime minister said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani met in Tashkent with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev to sign various memorandums of understandings on trade.
Gilani said the emphasis on the trade initiatives was on further cooperation in the energy sector. Islamabad is keen to buy more electricity from Uzbekistan to allay energy issues at home, Pakistan's International News Network reports.
The countries could also work closely in the oil and natural gas sectors, he added.
Islamabad is undertaking a broad-reaching strategy that includes domestic oil and natural gas production, renewable energy options and gas pipelines from its Asian neighbors.
The government handed out nearly 40 licenses to foreign and domestic companies for work in Pakistan.
Islamabad is pursing two natural gas pipelines from neighboring countries. A pipeline from the South Pars gas field in Iran could start carrying gas by 2012 and another from Turkmenistan could start deliveries in 2015.
