President stresses early Pak-China projects completion

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday emphasized the need to fast-track implementation of Pak-China agreed projects in areas of energy, mining, infrastructure, IT, communication, agriculture and others for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

He also proposed establishment of trans-border economic zones for shared development and prosperity of Gilgit-Baltistan and western regions of China and for setting up an umbrella corporation in the energy sector called "Pakistan-China Power Corporation" which should include specialists and entities from all the fields.

This he said during two rounds of meetings with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Spokesperson to the president Senator Farhatullah Babar while briefing about the meeting, said that the president thanked the Chinese Government and its leadership for their unswerving and continued support to Pakistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity and multifaceted assistance at all hours of need.

He said that the Pakistani people highly valued their brotherly relations with the Chinese people and were eager to learn from the Chinese experience of growth and development.

The president while recalling his previous visits to China said that each of his visits offered a unique experience of learning.

He said that Pakistan was keen to translate its traditional equation with China into economic terms and attached great importance to enhancing economic and trade linkages with China.

He said that the enhanced economic engagement of the two countries was an encouraging development and the two countries needed to fast-track implementation of mutually agreed projects for the mutual benefit of the people.

While expressing satisfaction over the increased bilateral trade, the president remarked that there was still a great margin which could be explored for further enhancing the trade volume.

He said that China may send frequent purchase missions to Pakistan to help reduce the current trade imbalance.

Terming the conclusion of bilateral currency swap agreement a major development between the two countries, the president said that ICBC's decision to open its branches in Pakistan was another positive development to enhance trade and investment.

He hoped that the National Bank of Pakistan would also be able to open its branch in China soon.

The President said that Pakistan was passing through a challenging phase in the energy sector.

He said, "We greatly appreciate Chinese assistance and investment in the energy sector."

The President expressed the hope that the 2nd Joint Energy Working Group meeting, which was held in Islamabad on May 7-8 would open new vistas of cooperation in the energy sector.

He said that in order to promote people-to-people contacts, there was a need to focus on increasing rail, road and air connectivity. He said that the two sides may consider initiating commercial flights between Islamabad-Kashgar to facilitate greater connectivity.

Discussing regional situation, the President said that Pakistan as an important player and China as a source of regional stability, had great roles to play in promoting regional stability and development.

He said that the trilateral dialogue recently initiated by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan offered new opportunities for enhancing mutual cooperation.

He said that Pakistan fully endorsed China's call for the SCO and existing multilateral mechanisms to play their full role in the region for promoting peace, stability and development.

The president said that extremism and militancy was a common enemy and should be defeated by joint efforts and mutual cooperation.

The president also thanked the Chinese Government for its assistance in searching the martyrs of recent Siachen avalanche.

The Chinese Foreign Minister thanked the President for meeting and assured his government's continued support to Pakistan.

He reiterated China's firm commitment and support safeguarding Pakistan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

He said China would continue to support Pakistan on all regional and international platforms and thanked Pakistan for its unstinted support to China on critical issues of concern to Beijing like Taiwan.

He said that his visit was intended to further enhance and consolidate the strategic partnership between the two countries.