• China’s Ambassador in Pakistan Nong Rong called on President Alvi
• President Alvi said Pakistan would welcome other countries to join CPEC
• He appreciated financial and economic support by China

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi appreciated the continuous financial and economic support by China to help bring financial stability to the country.

Talking to China’s Ambassador in Pakistan Nong Rong, the president said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a strategic project having economic, financial, logistics and connectivity value for Pakistan and China and other regional countries.

President Alvi said the government welcomes other countries to partner and benefit from this project. He said the full operationalization of CPEC and the planned Special Economic Zones is an important milestone.

He urged the Chinese IT sector to invest in the SEZs and benefit from Pakistan’s cost effective human resources, liberal investment regime, cyber data protection policy and tax incentives.

The president emphasized the need to fully operationalize road linkages between China and Gwadar Port in all weather conditions to fully utilize their capacity and achieve their fullest potential.

President Alvi said Pakistan has taken tangible steps to ensure the safety and security of Chinese workers and nationals who are contributing to the development of various strategic projects.

He said Pakistan is learning from the steps taken by the Chinese leadership to bring millions of people out of poverty and provide health facilities at the grassroots level by adopting out of box solutions.

President Arif Alvi said the close cooperation between the two countries in marketing JF-17 aircraft in the world market would help in expediting the export of fighter aircraft and meet the security needs of buyer countries.

He said both countries should explore options to use local currency for bilateral trade and investment. He encouraged Chinese companies to set up their outlets and manufacturing plants for semiconductors in Pakistan.

While referring to the meeting of higher leadership, the president said the friendship and cooperation in the economic, financial, communication, trade and investments were further strengthened.

He appreciated that sizeable progress had been made to complete commissioned projects, launch new ones and move forward with the ML-1 project to put the country on a fast trajectory of development.

The Chinese Ambassador, in his remarks, said the Chinese government is fully committed to completing CPEC as fast as possible, envisaging new projects and reaching out to the government to meet its immediate financial and economic needs.

He also appreciated the project undertaken by the Chinese company to launch the Safe City Project in Lahore, which would provide the city with a much-needed secure environment.

President Alvi also expressed his gratitude for the generous support and sympathy extended by the Chinese government, army, corporations and the general public to alleviate the suffering of millions of flood victims in Pakistan.

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