Pakistan Head of Chancery, Asim Khan, says that his country has begun the importation of Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas as part of efforts to deepen the economic relationship between the two nations.
Khan disclosed in Abuja on Tuesday that the first consignment of 70,000 metric tonnes of the gas had arrived at Pakistan’s Port Qasim in Karachi.
He said that the importation marked the beginning of a major business expansion between Nigeria and Pakistan in the oil and gas sector, adding “in the future, we are expecting much trade in this as well as in other sectors’’.
The envoy said that Pakistan utilised gas heavily for both domestic and generation purposes.
Prior to the commencement of gas importation from Nigeria, Pakistan was importing from Qatar to meet it’s domestic gas needs.
In a bid to strengthen its relationship with Nigeria, Pakistan recently opened scholarship offer for Nigerians to study at some of its higher institutions.
The country also announced plans to stage an agricultural equipment and machinery exhibition in Nigeria, to make its technological achievements in agriculture available to Nigerian farmers.
Agricultural machinery expected to be exhibited would include rugged tractors and other equipment that could boost small and medium enterprises growth in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Khan had said that Pakistan was determined to assist Nigeria’s efforts for self-sufficiency in food production, adding that the exhibition would be a channel to make durable and efficient farming equipment available to Nigerians at reasonable costs.
The diplomat said that the upcoming made-in-Pakistan agriculture exhibition was one of the strategies to assist Nigerian farmers to boost their yields.