November 6, 2018 (MLN): Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China from 2nd to 5th November, 2018 has perked up the overall economic relationship between the two friendly countries.
The top Chinese leadership has agreed to establish a Task Force to further discuss the matters of immediate market access for Pakistan's exports as well as for the balance of payments support for Pakistan.
In this connection, a senior level delegation comprising of Federal Secretaries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Planning & Development and Commerce along with the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan will undertake a visit to China during the current week to work out the modalities with the Chinese authorities in their respective areas.
During PM’s visit to China, several avenues of mutually beneficial collaboration were identified and a number of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)’s were signed between the two sides in the sphere of economic cooperation
These included agreements in the area of socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, agriculture, economic and technical cooperation, forestry, earth sciences, higher education and technology.
The two sides noted with satisfaction that CPEC’s first stage, which comprised of infrastructure and energy sector improvements, has almost been completed.
It has been decided that the next stage of CPEC will focus on industrial expansion, agricultural revitalization and trade integration of the two economies. This phase will help the Government of Pakistan in achieving its objectives of job creation and export growth.