Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar of ISLAMABAD is currently in Beijing, China, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
On Tuesday, Kakar extended an invitation to China to invest in solar parks in Pakistan and stated that his administration was interested in studying Chinese examples of industrial parks and special economic zones.
On Monday, the interim prime minister landed in Beijing to take part in the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation.
According to state media, he will meet with a group of Chinese think-tanks and professors and attend a luncheon honouring foreign leaders attending the forum at the request of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The weather, the parks, and the CPEC
Kakar, speaking at a roundtable in Beijing on Tuesday, said that Pakistan’s attempts to take climate action and lower its energy import bill would benefit from investments in solar parks.
He emphasised the longstanding friendship between China and Pakistan, which is founded on mutual benefits and common interests. Despite the ups and downs of world politics, our friendship has stayed strong.
The interim prime minister has stated that Pakistan’s connection with China is more valuable than any other bilateral relationship.
“This unique relationship is supported by the vast majority of Pakistanis,” he remarked. There is no question that Pakistan will weaken the special love we have for China.
He said that the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project exemplified the two countries’ strategic cooperation and that it was the result of concerted efforts to improve economic and commercial ties between the two countries.
He also believes that CPEC represents the strong political ties between Pakistan and China.
“CPEC is a transformative project central to advancing our national agenda to sustainable development,” Kakar remarked. From Gilgit-Baltistan to the ports of Gwadar and Karachi, the geoeconomic landscape of Pakistan has been reshaped in recent years as a result of the effort.
He went on to say that it is “already proving to be a catalyst for job creation, poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation giving strength to the vulnerable and underprivileged apart from reaching remote sections of society” by modernising Pakistan’s infrastructure and tapping into the country’s large youth population.
In his own words, “I myself come from Balochistan, an underdeveloped province of Pakistan, and generally believe that CPEC is a beacon of development, progress, and prosperity for the people of my province,” Kakar added.
In addition to emphasising that CPEC is a representation of the strategic trust between Pakistan and China, he said that Pakistan is looking to open up new growth opportunities for the region and beyond.
Pakistan welcomes “new partners” who want to “availing benefits from CPEC” with it.
The interim premier informed the audience that since the last visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan has “injected more than 8,000MW of energy and generated more than 2,000 new jobs for our people” through the construction of “800kms of roads and motorways into our network.”
Kakar believes the next stage of CPEC should aim for greater economic integration between the two countries by putting an emphasis on diversity and innovation.
At the end of his speech, he emphasised the importance of CPEC’s skill development and vocational training programmes.
In his interim premier’s words, “our economies with a focus on diversification and innovation” should be the goal of the next stage of CPEC.
Prime Minister Kakar concluded by emphasising the importance of CPEC’s skill development and vocational training programmes.
The interim premier later tweeted that he had “attended an insightful roundtable in Beijing on CPEC’s decade-long journey.”
I am pleased with how far we’ve come in improving Pakistan’s economy and fostering closer ties with China. We’ve learned from our mistakes and are prepared for the next stage of development, which will emphasise expansion, innovation, and environmentally responsible practises,” he said.
Pak-Kenya
On the fringes of BRF, the temporary PM also spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto.
