ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that a new era of cooperation with China has commenced in areas of information technology, communication, minerals and mining, and energy and it would boost economic progress, regional connectivity and bilateral ties.
Chairing a meeting to review implementation of agreements and MoUs between the two countries reached during the PM’s recent visit to China, the prime minister said that he would not tolerate any disruption in the implementation of the same, declaring that he would personally supervise the process, the official news agency reported.
Referring to the time-tested Pak-China friendship, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that China had always supported Pakistan in difficult times.
“China has emerged as the strongest economic power and Pakistan can emulate from its development,” he added.
The prime minister observed that recently a delegation of Chinese shoe manufacturing companies had visited Pakistan with regard to relocation of their plants in Pakistan, adding that such companies had the capacity to invest about 5 to 8 billion dollars in Pakistan, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
He said that the local shoe manufacturers association was in constant contact with the Chinese companies in this regard.
Moreover, he said about 12 renowned Chinese companies related to the agriculture sector would be taking very active part in the Food and Agri Expo being held in Pakistan.
The prime minister also reviewed progress on sending a total of 1,000 Pakistani students on government scholarships to China for seeking the latest training in the agriculture sector.
He also directed for sending students from the backward areas of Balochistan to China on priority basis, besides other students from the four provinces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir on merit.
The prime minister further directed for sending students in the upcoming educational semester.
The meeting was apprised that owing to the agreements and MoUs signed during the prime minister’s recent visit, more than 100 Chinese companies were in contact with the Pakistani counterparts for business and investment purposes.
The meeting was also informed by the Ministry of IT on the progress made towards imparting of technical training, one-stop operation for business facilitation, smart governance and smart city by Huawei to a total of 300,000 students.
The prime minister directed Wapda authorities to establish a safe centre for the foolproof security arrangements of Chinese nationals working on Dasu and Diamer Bhasha dams.
He asked for immediate implementation of all the directives.
Prime Minister Shehbaz was also apprised of the progress on different projects related to communication infrastructure, power and Gwadar.
He directed for expediting work on steps for the development of the Gwadar port, airport and industrial zone to transform Gwadar into a regional corridor hub.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also asked for accelerating the negotiation process with the Chinese manufacturing companies for relocation of solar panels and accessories’ units to Pakistan.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, federal ministers including Jam Kamal Khan, Attaullah Tarar, Abdul Aleem Khan, Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, Dr Musadik Malik, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja, PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzaib Khan and relevant authorities.
