BEIJING: Pakistan’s Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, held key meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The discussions come ahead of the 14th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting, expected to take place soon. He also discussed the agenda for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to China.
Speaking to the local media, the minister highlighted that China and Pakistan are actively collaborating on a range of socio-economic projects aimed at improving the lives of people in underdeveloped areas.
“We discussed making this partnership more effective and also expanding its framework so that we can make a real impact in the lives of the people through interventions which will give them opportunities for livelihood and also promote opportunities for students from the backwards areas to come and study in China,” he said.
Iqbal also held meetings with representatives of Chinese companies currently operating in Pakistan. Discussions centred on exploring new investment opportunities and strengthening business-to-business cooperation.
He emphasised that the next phase of CPEC will shift focus from infrastructure development to deeper business and industrial collaboration.
“The first phase was instrumental in building critical infrastructure, backed by $25 billion in Chinese investment. We successfully added over 8,000 megawatts to our energy grid and constructed key motorways and highways, significantly enhancing connectivity across Pakistan,” he added.
Ahsan Iqbal said that now in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, we are shifting our focus more towards business-to-business cooperation, development of agricultural potential, and modernising agriculture by using the latest technology and assistance from China.
“We have recently approved a scheme to train 1000 agriculture experts in modern technology in China, of which the first batch of 300 experts has already completed their training and gone back to Pakistan, while the second batch is in China. We hope that this will help modernise Pakistan’s agriculture,” he added.
“We are also emphasising greater cooperation in the industrial sector to raise the level of the Pakistani economy from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy. We see a structural transformation in Pakistan’s economy to focus more towards industrialisation that will not only provide more job opportunities, but also help us build Pakistan’s export potential,” he added.
The minister also held meetings with the new chairman of China’s Nuclear Authority and the Space Agency and discussed how the two sides can further strengthen cooperation in the peaceful nuclear use of technology by extending nuclear power into agriculture, health, and other sectors.
Both sides also discussed enhancing cooperation in space exploration because this is the future technology that will shape the future of mankind and also the economies.
