ISLAMABAD: A high-level Pakistani delegation is expected to visit Kuwait by the end of the month to strengthen bilateral cooperation and highlight business opportunities in the country amid renewed efforts to attract investment from the Gulf state.
Last year, the two countries agreed to deepen their economic and investment ties during the visit of interim prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to the Arab state in late November. The visit was billed as a significant step in enhancing the relationship between the two countries, with the signing of various memoranda of understanding aimed at boosting cooperation in fields such as manpower, information technology, mineral exploration, food security, energy and defense.
Kakar’s visit to Kuwait came just a few months after the country established the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a civil-military hybrid body designed to oversee foreign financing with a specific focus on the Gulf region.
The upcoming visit of the Pakistani delegation, led by Federal Minister for Board of Investment, Privatization and Communications Abdul Aleem Khan, was announced in an official statement, although the exact dates were not specified.
“During the visit to Kuwait, there will be progress in providing employment to more workforce from Pakistan, especially health professionals and skilled labor,” Khan was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Pakistan will increase cooperation [with Kuwait] by taking on board its export companies for dairy farming, meat products, rice and other food items and move forward through accelerated measures,” he added.
The minister expressed optimism that the visit would mark the beginning of a new era of mutual cooperation, improvement in economic affairs and investment, for which the relevant departments were making preparations.
He presided over a meeting about the visit and told participants that Kuwait’s envoy had also been taken on board while making all necessary arrangements.
The delegation is expected to hold meetings with top officials of the Gulf country to discuss trade and business activities between the two countries.

KARACHI: With an emphasis on improving the security of Chinese workers in Pakistan, officials in Beijing and Islamabad held the 13th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting online on Friday, agreeing to proceed with the ML-1 railway project estimated to cost over $6 billion.
The JCC meeting, which focused on joint energy and infrastructure development initiatives under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was convened after the March 26 suicide attack that killed five Chinese engineers and their local driver en route to the under-construction Dasu dam.
Briefing the media about the decisions made during the meeting, Pakistan’s planning minister Ahsan Iqbal said Chinese security concerns were discussed during the talks.
“Security issues were discussed in the meeting and China was briefed on improving security,” he said, adding that Pakistani authorities had raised a special force to ensure the safety of CPEC projects.
The Chinese nationals in Pakistan have been targeted by various militant factions, with a significant number of attacks coming from Baloch nationalists who aim to push Beijing out of the mineral-rich Balochistan province.
Pakistan’s top economic body on Thursday approved $2.5 million in compensation for the families of the Chinese workers killed in the March 26 Dasu attack.
Iqbal mentioned that both sides decided to initiate more projects apart from those carried out under the CPEC umbrella, adding: “We will jointly improve the security for these projects.”
He also informed the two countries agreed to start the mega ML-1 railway project focusing on the dualization of the existing railway network, built in the late 19th century, and the overall upgrading of tracks connecting the port city of Karachi to Peshawar.
“I am pleased to inform you that Pakistan has made significant progress on the Pakistan Railways Mainline-1 project,” the planning minister said. “The re-modified PC-1 [project feasibility] has been approved with a cost of $6.76 billion in two phases.”
“The project is now ready for the bidding process among eligible Chinese companies,” he added. “We request that the bidding process should start immediately in view of the poor deterioration of the railway track.”
Iqbal also provided details of the CPEC projects that have been completed so far.
“It is heartening to note the steady progress CPEC has made since its inception in 2013,” he said. “In the energy sector, we have successfully completed 16 projects, with a generation capacity of 8,020 MW [megawatts], along with two coal mines and a +660 kV HVDC [Kilovolt High Voltage Direct Current] transmission line.”
He added that the 884 MV Suki Kinari hydropower project worth $1.707 billion was still under construction and expected to be commissioned by November 2024.
“Three power projects, including two hydel (Azad Pattan 700 MW and Kohala 1124 MW) and one coal-based (Gwadar) with a generation capacity of 2124.7 MW worth $4.157 billion, are at an advanced stage,” he continued.
The minister maintained concrete progress on the next CPEC phase would emerge after Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to China, expected in the first week of June.
The two countries have closely collaborated since the launch of the joint corridor project. Sharif met representatives of several Chinese companies on Friday, noting that bilateral relations between the two states were further strengthening.
He urged Chinese companies to establish their industries in the special economic zones under CPEC by developing business-to-business relations, particularly inviting Chinese entrepreneurs in the textile sector to benefit from the opportunities in Pakistan.
Speaking to Arab News, Ammar Habib Khan, a senior research economist, acknowledged China’s financial assistance to Pakistan while suggesting that Islamabad wanted Beijing to soften its stance on restructuring about $15 billion in loans, mainly extended for power and other infrastructure projects.
“The debt restructuring of about $15 billion, including those of the power sector, will provide Pakistan a breathing space and could lead to a reduction in electricity prices,” he said.