Observer Report
While appreciating Pakistan for its support to cope with coronavirus outbreak, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing on Thursday said that China is working day and night to prevent the life-threatening virus from entering into Pakistan.
He, however, said that that flight operations between both countries are normal. He went on to say that the Chinese government is suffering from serious difficulty.
He was speaking at a Seminar titled “Six Years of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)” organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE).
Chinese Ambassador said that the expensive energy issue is also being faced by Chinese traders who are coming to Pakistan but the cooperation in energy sector is increasing due to CPEC. “Government of Pakistan has adopted a policy for ease of business,” he said, adding that the international business community is now looking to invest in Pakistan.
He expressed that the construction of ports improves the economy of a country, which is why China is working on the Gwadar Port.
On the occasion, Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Asad Qaiser on said that the CPEC is a backbone of our economy amid critical economic challenges of the country.
Terming CPEC a fortune change of the country, he said that through knowledge sharing and technology transfer, we are hopeful that Pakistan would soon get out of the current economic quagmire.
On Coronavirus outbreak in China, Asad said that through all thick and thin China always help Pakistan and in this catastrophe of Coronavirus, despites concerns, the government and people of Pakistan will be standing with China and will provide all out support in their difficult times.
Asad expressed the need for creating and converting the CPEC committee into a think tank and asked SDPI’s support in this regard. He also invited the business community and think tanks for economic policy inputs.
Shakeel Ahmed Ramay, Head China Study Center, SDPI said that more than 600 million people still live in extreme poverty in the world, around 2 billion people need safe drinking water, 1.1 billion people need electricity and 263 million children are still out of school.
He added that to cope with these global challenges, the world, especially the developing countries, needs projects like CPEC and BRI which aim at improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth.
He recalled that that the BRI is really helping counter extreme poverty, particularly in developing countries, through the provision of employment opportunities and boosting exports. BRI is different than other regional projects as it promotes harmony and peace through development, pre-emptive economic strike (PES), and encourage eco-civilization which is sustainable development plus, he added.
President ISE Zahid Latif Khan said that CPEC is the most successfully implemented project under BRI. The governments of China and Pakistan are expanding their scope in the global value chain, social sector development, and blue economy etc., which will provide the gateways for the business to grow. He said that to boost exports, Pakistan needs export surplus, in order to get benefits from Free Trade Agreements and special concessions.
