ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said Monday his government will make Pakistan a better place for business and investment, as he concluded his first official visit to China.
He was speaking at China’s first international import expo, which is being held in Shanghai.
Beijing has pledged billions of dollars to build power stations, highways, railways and ports in Pakistan as part of an economic corridor, a key part of President Xi Jinping’s ambition to link China with Eurasia.
Khan said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will have an impact on other regions as it will cut distances and costs, bringing much-needed resources to manufacturers and products to consumers.
“CPEC is a mechanism to forge even closer connectivity between different regions including the Middle East, central and South Asia,” he added.
He also said that while unilateral commercialism is aggressively sought by some and protectionism is on the rise, “Pakistan takes great comfort in President Xi’s courageous statement that their doors will never shut but will only open even wider.”
The aim of the Expo is take practical steps to expand financial opening-up and there are huge gains to be made.
Xi told the opening ceremony that imported goods and services are estimated to exceed $30 trillion and $10 trillion in the next 15 years, Chinese state media reported.
Khan said the expo will help spread the dividends of free trade among more closely integrated economies.
His China visit concludes Monday.
On Sunday both countries issued a joint statement strengthening their cooperative partnership and expanding cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
They also signed 15 bilateral cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding.
Pakistan to be ‘better place for business’ PM Khan tells China
Pakistan to be ‘better place for business’ PM Khan tells China
- Government will make country more conducive and competitive place for business and investment, PM Khan
- China Expo will help spread dividends of free trade among more closely integrated economies
Pakistan PM cancels trip to Russia over regional clashes
- The development comes as months of Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions have flared since last week
- Russian media reported that PM Shehbaz Sharif was due to travel to Russia from March 3 to 5
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif canceled on Sunday a trip to Russia in the coming days, citing the “regional and internal situation.”
Sharif was due to travel to Russia from March 3 to 5, it had been reported in Russian media.
Months of cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan have flared since Thursday when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies.
And protesters took to the streets across Pakistan on Sunday after the death of neighboring Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israel air strikes.
“In view of the current regional and internal situation, the prime minister has decided to postpone his visit to Russia after consultations,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
A new date will be decided after “mutual consultations,” the statement added.
