Talking to Bangladesh media at the Prime Minister House soon after the arrival of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in Pakistan on a three-day visit, he said that ties between the two countries would be further strengthened, particularly in the fields of trade, tourism and investment.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan had always attached great importance to improving bilateral relations with Bangladesh in all fields and it had been demonstrated by his two visits to Bangladesh.
Referring to the success story of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh initiated by Younas Khan, Shaukat said that Pakistan has also introduced the micro-finance to help the people in starting their own businesses.
He said that the two countries have great potential to learn from the best practices of each other.
He said that Bangladesh has also achieved success in family planning and literacy, and added that Pakistan was benefiting from the success stories of Bangladesh in these fields.
The Prime Minister explained to the Bangladesh media about the valuable experiences of Pakistan in the economic field and said that Bangladesh could get benefit from these experiences. He especially referred to economic reforms and said that these reforms helped the country to achieve $736 per capita income, which would increase to $800 by the end of the year. He said that Pakistan has the highest growing economy in the region.
Shaukat said that Pakistan and Bangladesh could play an important role in Saarc and make it a more vibrant, effective and useful organisation for the benefit of member states. He said all members of Saarc "are equal and its charter is based on consensus" among the member states.
He said that there should be more flights and shipping lines between the two countries to promote their trade and investment relations. He said that both countries were co-operating in security and defence fields.
The Prime Minister said that Bangladesh as the Chairman of Saarc has been playing very important and vital role to enhance the scope of this organisation for the welfare of the region.
He said that both countries are dedicated to peace in the region and are sharing these views in Saarc. He said both countries have common position on major regional and international issues.
The Prime Minister said, "Pakistan and Bangladesh have common heritage and strong bonds of Islam."
About the topics to be discussed during the meeting with Bangaldesh Prime Minister, he said that regional situation and relations with India, Iraq, Iran and peace in the region would be the main points.
He said peace could be ensured in the region after the solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
He said three stakeholders, Pakistan, India and Kashmiris, should be agreed on the solution to Kashmir issue to ensure peace in the region.
He said that Pakistan has already proposed 'demilitarisation and self-government' in Kashmir to find a peaceful solution to this issue.
Shaukat said that Saarc could also achieve its true potential in the region if the disputes were settled peacefully.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his wife Rukhsana Aziz along with Minister-in-Waiting Nelofar Bakhtiar received the distinguished guest at the Chaklala Air Base.
Khaleda Zia was accorded a warm welcome when she was given 19-gun salute. A girl clad in traditional Pakistani dress presented her bouquet.
The airport was decorated with flags of the two countries and pictures of Khaleda Zia, President General Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz.
A contingent of Pakistan Air Force presented salute to the distinguished guest on her arrival.
Formal welcome ceremony will be held at the Prime Minister House on Monday afternoon.
During her stay, Khaleda Zia will call on President Pervez Musharraf while she will hold official talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz covering complete range of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations.
The talks would be followed by signing of several agreements and MoUs aimed at strengthening the ties between the two countries.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are expected to sign MoU and agreements in diverse areas, including agriculture co-operation, promotion of tourism, co-operation between the two export promotion bureaus and on standardisation of weights and measures.
These agreements are aimed at consolidating the existing close ties between the two countries as Pakistan and Bangladesh already have a mechanism in place for bilateral annual consultations between their foreign secretaries and also have an ongoing security co-operation in intelligence-sharing.
Musharraf will host a lunch for Begum Khaleda, while Shaukat Aziz will host a banquet in her honour.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh will also visit the earthquake relief camp in Islamabad besides visiting Lok Virsa Museum.
Besides official talks between the two prime ministers, there will be one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister House.
Khaleda Zia's official visit is a part of regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and Bangladesh.