PM Shehbaz Courts Turkish Investment During High-Level Business Meetings in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, July 4, 2026: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held separate meetings with senior executives of Türkiye’s leading business groups and industry organizations in Istanbul on Saturday, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation and attracting greater Turkish investment across key sectors of the economy.
The prime minister met Çalık Holding Chairman Ahmet Çalık, Albayrak Group Chairman Ahmet Albayrak, and Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu during his visit.
During the meetings, Prime Minister Shehbaz highlighted the longstanding brotherly ties between Pakistan and Türkiye, emphasizing the need to translate the strong political relationship into a more robust economic and investment partnership.
He underscored Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic indicators, investor-friendly policies, and the government’s commitment to ensuring a transparent, predictable, and business-friendly investment environment.
The prime minister invited Turkish companies to expand their investments in priority sectors, including energy, mining and minerals, infrastructure, maritime affairs and logistics, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, and privatization.
He also highlighted the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in providing strategic investors with a one-window facilitation mechanism and institutional support in coordination with federal and provincial authorities.
During discussions with Çalık Holding, Prime Minister Shehbaz pointed to investment opportunities in energy, infrastructure, information technology, and privatization. He welcomed the group’s interest in expanding its footprint in Pakistan, noting that the company’s existing operations through Çalık Enerji and GAP İnşaat provide a solid foundation for deeper cooperation.
In his meeting with Albayrak Group, the prime minister praised the company’s longstanding presence in Pakistan and acknowledged its contribution to the country’s connectivity and infrastructure development. He encouraged the group to further increase investments in maritime infrastructure, port modernization, and logistics.
While meeting TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Prime Minister Shehbaz appreciated the organization’s efforts to strengthen business-to-business engagement between Pakistan and Türkiye. He proposed establishing an institutional mechanism for regular interaction between the private sectors of both countries and invited TOBB to lead a high-level business delegation to Pakistan to explore emerging investment opportunities firsthand.
Turkish business leaders welcomed Pakistan’s ongoing economic reforms, improvements in the investment climate, and investor-friendly policies. They expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic outlook and reaffirmed their interest in expanding investments across multiple strategic sectors while fostering long-term partnerships between the two countries.
