KARACHI: The Government of Balochistan and Chinese authorities have started taking initiatives to provide the local population with work in Gwadar’s job market.
Gwadar, a Pakistani port city, acquired immense importance because of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, the local population is considered one of the poorest in Balochistan, the largest Pakistani province.
“Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has instructed the administration of Gwadar Development Authority schools to start Chinese language classes for the local population as soon as possible,” Balochistan Minister for Information and Higher Education Mir Zahoor Buledi told Arab News.
The purpose of these classes, Buledi said, is to enable the local population to learn Chinese to get jobs in CPEC projects.
“Our government aims to provide the maximum benefits of the CPEC projects to local people, and starting Chinese language classes is one of the several steps we will take to ensure that the people of Balochistan are the first ones to benefit,” he said.
Ahmed Iqbal Baloch, a senior analyst, appreciating the initiative of Chief Minister Balochistan, said it was the basic right of the local population to get jobs first, which is for the provincial government to ensure.
“The Chinese are too attached to their language and barely 2 percent may know English or any other language. Either the Chinese will have to learn Urdu or the people of Pakistan will have to learn Chinese to communicate with the Chinese working on different projects (in Pakistan),” Baloch told Arab News.
“Communication is must. Without it, you can’t work with people speaking a language that you don’t know,” Baloch argued.
He said Gwadar’s free zone spreading over 22 acres of land had mainly Chinese workers. “If the locals are to join them, they will have to communicate, and for communication there needs to be a language which both may understand,” he said.
The Chinese are also learning Urdu for better communication in carrying out the CPEC projects, he said. “Each year Beijing University is teaching Urdu to hundreds of Chinese students.”
“During my last visit to Beijing, I saw Chinese learning Urdu and Balochi languages,” Balochistan Economic Forum’s President, Sardar Shaukat Popalzai, told Arab News.
Several teachers from Gwadar and other districts that are hosting CPEC routes have been sent to China to learn Mandarin. “Once they are back, they will start teaching Chinese in different schools of the province,” said Popalzai.
But it is not only language, Baloch said, that is essential for getting jobs in CPEC projects. “You must be skilled in jobs and for this a vocational training is also mandatory,” he said.
China has already set up a major vocational center in Gwadar which will provide training to the local population to enable them to get jobs in CPEC projects in the city, said Popalzai.
“The Balochistan government should expand Chinese language centers and vocational programs so that the maximum number of people from this backward but highly resourceful province may be benefited,” Baloch concludes.
Schools in Gwadar instructed to teach Mandarin
Schools in Gwadar instructed to teach Mandarin
- Chief Minister Balochistan, Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, has instructed Gwadar Development Authority’s schools to start teaching Chinese language for local population
- China has also set up a major vocational center in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar, which will provide training to locals enabling them to get jobs in CPEC projects
Pakistan, Indonesia sign MoUs to expand cooperation as Islamabad seeks to ease trade imbalance
- Pakistan offers to send doctors and medical experts to support Indonesia’s expanding health needs
- Indonesian president highlights close foreign policy coordination with Pakistan, including on Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Indonesia signed seven memoranda of understanding on Tuesday to deepen cooperation in trade, education and health, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying Islamabad aimed to narrow a $4.5 billion bilateral trade imbalance heavily tilted in Jakarta’s favor.
The agreements were concluded during Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s two-day visit to Pakistan, his first trip to the country since taking office and the first by an Indonesian head of state in seven years.
Subianto, who arrived on Monday, held detailed talks with Sharif before the signing ceremony.
“Our discussion has been extremely productive,” Sharif said at a joint media appearance. “More than 90 percent of our current imports from Indonesia are palm oil. We have discussed how to take corrective measures to balance this through Pakistan’s agri-exports, IT-led initiatives and other areas.”
Sharif earlier noted Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Indonesia stood at around $4.5 billion, with the imbalance overwhelmingly in Jakarta’s favor.
Subianto thanked Pakistan for what he called an exceptionally warm welcome, noting his aircraft had been escorted by Pakistan Air Force JF-17 fighter jets.
He said the meeting had produced agreements across several fields, including trade, agriculture, education and science and technology.
The Indonesian president also welcomed Pakistan’s offer to help his country address critical shortages of medical professionals.
“Indonesia has vast needs for doctors, dentists and medical experts, and Pakistan’s support in this regard is strategic and critical,” he said.
Sharif noted Pakistan would be ready to send doctors, dentists and medical professors to assist Indonesia’s plans to expand its medical colleges and universities.
He added that Islamabad would “work closely and diligently” with Jakarta to achieve the targets set during the visit.
Subianto said both countries were also coordinating closely on foreign policy, particularly on developments in Gaza, and reaffirmed Indonesia’s support for a two-state solution.
He invited Sharif to visit Jakarta to deepen cooperation under the new agreements.
Pakistan and Indonesia marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, with both leaders saying the visit would help lift relations to what Sharif called “a much higher level” in trade, development and people-to-people links.
