ISLAMABAD  -  In a meeting between Federal Finance and Revenue Minis­ter Muhammad Aurangzeb and Japanese Ambassador to Paki­stan, HE Mitsuhiro Wada, held on Tuesday, the commitment to bolster Pakistan’s economic framework and strengthen bilat­eral relations between the two nations was reaffirmed.

Minister Aurangzeb welcomed the Japanese ambassador and stated that the Government of Pakistan is committed to under­take reforms to bring macro-eco­nomic stability and sustainability. He stated that increasing the tax to GDP ratio remains a priority area. In this regard, the government will strive to achieve end to end digiti­sation with an aim to expand the tax base, bring transparency in the tax system and improve the client experience. He further ap­prised the ambassador about en­ergy sector reforms. While focus would be on reducing the costs in the sector but governance issues of the distribution companies will be addressed through private par­ticipation in the management and eventual privatisation.

Ambassador Wada noted the commitment of the government to continue with the implementa­tion of prudent fiscal policies and structural reforms. He informed that presently 80 Japanese com­panies are operating in Pakistan. He highlighted some of the issues being faced by Japanese automak­ers in Pakistan. He appreciated the government’s efforts towards economic revival and expressed Japan’s continued support for Pak­istan’s initiatives aimed at foster­ing growth and prosperity.

The finance minister informed that agriculture and IT sec­tors have demonstrated robust growth recently and the gov­ernment would make efforts to support these sectors to become growth leaders. Concluding the meeting, both sides expressed their desire to further enhance the bilateral cooperation be­tween Pakistan and Japan and pledged to work together to­wards achieving common goals for the benefit of both nations.