Pakistan PM to visit China next week to strengthen economic ties, meet with key investors – Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit China next week for a four-day visit and will prioritise meetings with key companies and investors, the foreign ministry said on Friday, stressing the focus on strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister earlier today asked the country’s authorities to draw up a “comprehensive plan” for business-to-business (B2B) initiatives during his June 4-8 visit to China to attract Chinese investors.
Sharif’s visit comes at a time when Pakistan avoided default on its debt thanks to a $3 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund last year and is seeking greater foreign investment to shore up its fragile economy.
“A key aspect of the Prime Minister’s visit will be meetings with executives from leading Chinese companies in oil and gas, energy and ICT. [information and communication technology]emerging technologies, etc,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.
She told her weekly press conference that Sharif will visit Beijing, Xi’an and Shenzhen and hold delegation-level talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and heads of key government departments.
She said the prime minister will also address the Pakistan-China Business Forum, which will be attended by prominent businessmen, entrepreneurs and investors from both countries. The prime minister will also visit economic and agricultural belts in China.
Baloch noted that cooperation between the two countries during this visit will determine the future trajectory of Pakistan-China strategic partnership.
Counterterrorism
Asked whether Islamabad had formally requested Beijing to hold talks with Pakistan on the terror threat facing the country, he said the two countries have multiple channels of communication to discuss all matters including terrorism.
“So, the talks are ongoing,” she said. “I am not in a position to share internal consultations or special diplomatic discussions. Pakistan and China have discussed issues relating to terrorism and security of Chinese nationals in the country.”
The spokesman said the two countries agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism and security through a comprehensive approach.
“We have made clear public statements about how we will work together to fight terrorism,” she added. “Any attempt to undermine our cooperation and friendship will never succeed.”
Earlier today, Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Muhammad Khurram Agha met with Afghanistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Muhammad Nabi Omari in Kabul to share the results of an investigation into the March 26 suicide bomb attack in northwest Pakistan that killed five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.
The Chinese workers were killed when a suicide bomber’s vehicle hit them as they were heading to the Das Hydroelectric Project in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Islamabad blamed the attack on the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), and Pakistan’s interior minister said last week that the bombing was planned by TTP members in Afghanistan and called on the Kabul government to arrest and extradite those suspected in the crime.
