Islamabad:President Asif Ali Zardari has called for further strengthening Pakistan-Germany relations, particularly in trade and investment, development cooperation, defence, skilled labour mobility and business-to-business engagement.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed these views during a meeting with Ambassador-designate of Pakistan to Germany, Salman Sharif, at Aiwan-e-Sadr. He said Pakistan attaches great importance to its longstanding relations with Germany and looks forward to making the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2026 a meaningful opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation.
The President stressed the need to increase bilateral trade and business engagement, noting that Germany is Pakistan's largest export destination in the EU.
The President also called for continued defence cooperation, early favourable consideration of Pakistan's pending requests and greater cooperation on skilled labour mobility.
The President recalled Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif's invitation to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to visit Pakistan and expressed the hope that the visit would take place at a mutually convenient date.
The President congratulated Salman Sharif on his new assignment and expressed confidence that he would work towards further strengthening Pak-Germany relations.
Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla and former Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar were also present during the meeting.
Meanwhile President Asif Ali Zardari received a report from Justice Irfan Qadir, Consultant (Legal Affairs) on the disposal of more than 6,000 representations between 2024 and 2026, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.
According to the report, more than 6,000 representations were decided, a record in the history of the representation mechanism. The President was informed that the process also saw increased emphasis on transparency and decisions in most cases were pronounced in the presence of the concerned parties.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla was also present during the meeting.
Meanwhile Wafaqi Mohtasib Naveed Kamran Baloch called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr and presented the Annual Report for 2025.
The Wafaqi Mohtasib briefed the President on the institution's performance and measures to improve public access to administrative justice, including the redressal of a record 261,101 complaints in 2025, compared with 223,198 in 2024, with an implementation rate of 96.8%. He also highlighted the expansion of its presence to 28 cities, One Window Facilitation Desks for Overseas Pakistanis at international airports, noting that nearly 88% of complaints were disposed of within the statutory 60-day time period.
The President commended the performance of the Wafaqi Mohtasib, saying that the institution is rendering a useful service to the people. He underscored the need to project its activities, particularly its efforts for speedy redressal of public complaints, so that a greater number of people could benefit from its services.