Chinese delegation from Foreign Affairs Office, Guangdong
Need stressed for cementing Pakistan-Guangdong ties
“Immense potential exists to be tapped for enhancing economic and commercial cooperation, and people to people interactions between Chinese province of Guangdong and Pakistan. The exemplary bilateral relationship between the two countries provides a solid foundation for moving ahead in this direction.”
These views were exchanged in a meeting between the visiting delegation from Foreign Affairs Office of Guangdong, and Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad. The delegation was headed by Fu Lang, the director general of the office.
Director general IPS, Khalid Rahman highlighted that Pakistan was among the favorable countries of the region in terms of doing business, as per the reports of international institutions. He dispelled the perception the investment into Pakistan faced risks. “This is a ‘War of Narratives’, where certain countries including Pakistan are labelled as dangerous to serve the interests of several regional and extra-regional powers”, he added. He emphasized on promotion of mutual understanding between the people, specially investors and businessmen, of the two countries, through enhanced interactions and promoting indigenous sources of information.
Guangdong is China’s economic powerhouse, generating some 11% of global giant’s GDP and a quarter of its external trade. The province is accounted among the top 15 economies of the world. Almost one fourth of Pakistan’s total trade (some 2.8 billion dollars out of total $ 12 billion) with China is also concentrated in the province’s highly developed and booming economic zones.
Fu Long, the head of the visiting delegation, emphasized that the Maritime Silk Road initiative launched by Chinese president Xi Jingping will usher the global trade into a new era; as it will foster linkages between East Asia and Europe, while countries on the way will also benefit from it. “Think-tanks and media have an important role to play in highlighting these opportunities,” the visiting dignitary emphasized. He shared that most of the countries along the path of the maritime silk road have shared positive response, though, some have their reservations as well.
