BEIJING: Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday arrived in Beijing as part of the high-level interactions between Pakistan and China.
The federal minister was accompanied by Ambassador Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs.
After his arrival, Ahsan Iqbal held several key meetings, including at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, and China Development Bank.
In his meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, Ahsan Iqbal held wide-ranging discussions, aimed at even further solidifying the ‘All Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’.
Discussions also included a review of the successful culmination of the first decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and the progress achieved in its second decade, particularly on the 5 corridors, namely growth, openness, inclusivity livelihood, and innovation, as outlined by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng last year.
Minister Reaffirms Pakistan’s Commitment to CPEC
Ahsan Iqbal reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the high-quality development of CPEC, outlining future cooperation under the mega project’s phase-II in such priority sectors as IT, textile, minerals agriculture modernization, and renewable energy, among others.
He highlighted the need for greater business-to-business links for the second phase of CPEC for which issuance of visas to Pakistani businessmen should be facilitated.
Ahsan Iqbal underlined the significance and urgency of the ML-1 Peshawar- Karachi Railway mainline project and called for enhanced collaboration in the field of Human Resource Development, especially through capacity-building programs and training opportunities, recognizing it as an important area in the second phase of CPEC. It apprised the Chinese side about enhanced security measures taken by Pakistan’s government for the security of Chinese personnel.
Later, Ahsan Iqbal also met with the leadership of Chinese financial institutions, including Sheng Hetai, President of China Export and Credit Insurance Corp. (SINOSURE) at SINOSURE’s Headquarters and discussed cooperation across different sectors, including early completion of hydel power projects such as Azad Pattan and Kohala. Both agreed to realize the common goal of shared progress and prosperity.
The federal minister also met with the President of the China Development Bank (CDB) Tan Jiong. While underlining the deep-rooted friendship between Pakistan and China, he noted the exception and unique nature of the bilateral relationship and acknowledged the contribution of CDB in making CPEC successful.
The two sides also discussed CDB’s support for development projects in Pakistan, particularly in infrastructure, renewable energy and industrial sectors. The President CDB assured Ahsan Iqbal of the bank’s continued support of the efforts of the Government of Pakistan to accelerate the pace of the socio-economic development in the country.
