News
China has great economic role in future: President
SHANGHAI: President Asif Ali Zardari has called upon Chinese alternate energy companies to make investment in Pakistan as it has a great economic potential and a future role in the world affairs.He said: “When I draw the attention of the investors in the alternate and renewable energy, I ask for shifting from pollutant fossil fuel to clean sources of energy. We are impressed by the development made by the Chinese companies in the environment-friendly mixed hybrid fuel.”
He said Pakistan and China both had old friendship and cooperation.
Mr Zardari invited Chinese energy firms to harness solar and wind power in Pakistan, saying that they are destined to find themselves in a win-win situation for both countries.
Mr Zardari said this while addressing Pak-China Alternate Energy Forum here on Saturday. He said that Pakistan needed power to meet its energy demands and the investors needed new markets where they were assured of steady and investor friendly state national policies.
“I have come to Shanghai to tell you that seldom before such a commonality of interest existed and seldom before such a great opportunity had come our way,” he said. He said Pakistan has tens of millions of rooftops waiting eagerly to be adorned with solar panels in same way as China had done.
Speaking on the occasion, Masood Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to China, said Mr Zardari’s quest for energy security for Pakistan is the driving force behind the Pak-China Alternate Energy Forum. He thanked deputy mayor of Shanghai, Tang Dengjie for attending the conference.
Chief executives of SUNTECH, CEEG, Goldwind, Yinge Li Energy Group, Zhejiang Yuhui Solar and other companies engaged with alternate energy modes participated in the conference.
Mr Arif Alauddin, Chief Executive Officer of Alternate Energy Development Board also spoke on the occasion. He invited to the Chinese entrepreneurs to make investment in alternate energy sector in Pakistan.
He said: “My father-in-law, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had sent his children to see and learn from the fast development of this country. My wife, who became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988, had also pursued the forward-looking policies of her father.”
He said it was his fifth visit to China as President of Pakistan and each time he had learnt from the rapid socio-economic development of the country. He said in today’s scenario China had the status of the growth engine of the world.
Mr Zardari said that he was the first businessman President of Pakistan and he wanted to see that his future generations should have a prosperous and clean world around them.
He said it was an adequate and opportune time for the business people to invest in Pakistan. “I have brought my daughters with me so that they could see the development of China. My elder studying in Scotland will come to China for a year to learn Chinese language”, he added.
He said his martyred wife Benazir Bhutto had a vision to have a trade and economic connectivity with China. She wanted to see gas pipeline, railway tracks and highways running through both the countries, he said.
He said today name of the game was mixed fuel, to substitute fossil fuel with the mixed energy comprising solar, wind and ethanol to save the world future. He said: “When we talk about the alternate energy, it means we are working for the future generations.”
Earlier in his welcome remarks Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khan said President not only has the general overview of Pakistan’s energy requirements but he emphasized the exploration of full potential of renewable energy in Pakistan.
Mr Khan said Pakistan has a long coastal area in Sindh and Balochistan with a potential for wind power.
Courtesy www.Geo.tv