| Pak, China agree to hold ECG meeting in August, JEC near future |
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| Sunday,June 21,2009 Posted: 23:47 BJT(47 GMT) |
| From:APP Article type:Reproduced |
BEIJING, June 18 (APP)- Pakistan and China here Thursday agreed to hold meeting of the Economic Cooperation Group (ECG) for the implementation of Joint Five Year Programme for Trade and Economic Cooperation in coming August.
The two sides also agreed to convene Joint Economic Commission meeting in near future.
It was decided in a meeting held between Secretary General to the President of Pakistan Salman Faruqui and Chinese Vice Minister for Commerce (MOFCOM) Mr. Chen Jian.
During the meeting both sides also reviewed whole range of bilateral economic, commercial and trade relations between the two countries.
The Secretary General underlined that the President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari has sent him to China to expedite all economic projects currently under implementation between the two countries. He highlighted that the President accorded highest importance to the economic development of Pakistan.
The Secretary General stated that the President of Pakistan is keenly interested in the development of energy, housing, infrastructure development, small and medium sized dams, water conservancy and water reservoirs in all the four provinces, as well as agriculture, hybrid seeds and social sector development.
Faruqui mentioned that despite tremendous difficulties, Pakistani economy had recovered noticeably since the present democratic government took charge of the affairs.
The Chinese Vice Minister (MOFCOM) said that Pakistan and China were “all-weather friends”, close associates and intimate partners.
He reiterated Chinese government’s commitment to extend all sorts of assistance and cooperation to Pakistan. Agreeing to the difficulties, Pakistan is currently facing in the economic filed, the Chinese Vice Minister appreciated government measures to handle the situation cropped-up due to displacement of millions of people in Swat and Malakand.
The Secretary General mentioned that China was the first country to extend financial and material support to the internally displaced persons in Pakistan.
He briefed the Chinese side on the current situation in Pakistan and underlined that the government, armed forces and people of Pakistan were fully committed to root out militancy and extremism from the Pakistani society.
Faruqui stated that major successes had been achieved in Swat and Malakand and the situation was fast returning to normalcy.
He reiterated government of Pakistan’s commitment to provide foolproof security to Chinese nationals and mentioned that under the instructions of the President of Pakistan a dedicated task force made responsible to protect Chinese working in Pakistan.
The Chinese Vice Minister thanked Government of Pakistan for making special arrangements for the security of Chinese nationals.
The Secretary General and the Vice Minister also agreed to hold a pre-ECG meeting to review and update Joint Five Year Programme for Trade and Economic Cooperation signed between the two countries in 2006.
He invited Chinese Vice Minister MOFCOM to visit Pakistan at the earliest convenience.
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