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PM Nawaz Sharif arrives in China for official visit
BEIJING: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has arrived in China on his first foreign tour, eyeing high-impact Chinese infrastructure projects as an answer to economic malaise and an energy crisis.
Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun welcomed the Prime Minister and his entourage. Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood Khalid and senior diplomats of Pakistan Embassy and officials from Chinese government were also present on the occasion
Prime Minister was accompanied by First Lady Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Advisor to Prime Minister on foreign affairs Tariq Fatimi and Chief minister Balochistan Abdul Malik.
Weak growth, inflation, dwindling foreign exchange reserves and power cuts of up to 20 hours a day ruining industry are some of the biggest problems that the prime minister faces as head of government.
PM Sharif made fixing Pakistan's woeful economy and energy crisis the mantra of his election campaign and since winning a comfortable majority in May, has sought to strengthen economic ties with Beijing, arguably Islamabad's closest ally.
During his visit, Nawaz Sharif is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, financial and corporate leaders, and visit major industrial centres and special economic zones.
Before even being sworn into office, Nawaz hosted Li as the first foreign head of government to visit since his election victory.
In June, PM Nawaz asked state-owned China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) to install solar power plants, look into mining and explore iron ore, and he discussed the building of underground train networks in Pakistan's largest cities.
The PM said Saturday that plans to build a trade corridor from the Chinese border to the Arabian Sea would be a "game changer" that would bring development and prosperity to three billion people.
"Pakistan has to come out of its difficulties and we want to cooperate with each other on... infrastructure and in the field of energy," he added.
Chinese investment is popular in Pakistan where the PM won plaudits for pulling off high-impact infrastructure projects such as a high-speed motorway during his two previous tenures in office.
"A trade corridor really could be transformative in parts of our ailing economy and it is here that the technocrats and business acumen of the new government are going to be shaping future foreign policy for Pakistan," wrote The News on Monday.
China-Pakistan trade last year reached $12 billion and is targeted to rise to $15 billion in the next two to three years.
During his visit to Islamabad, Li said Beijing was ready to speed up work to upgrade the Karakoram Highway, a vital link to any future economic corridor into Pakistan from the Chinese border.
Courtesy www.geo.tv
