Pakistan welcomes British investment in CPEC.

Byline: SHAFQAT ALI

ISLAMABAD -- Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan welcomes British investment in China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.

Speaking at the CPEC forum here, the minister said during his recent visit to the United Kingdom, he had talked about CPEC with his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt.

This week, Pakistan and the UK had reaffirmed commitment to take bilateral relationship forward and work for shared prosperity. The commitment was made at fourth review of Pakistan-UK Enhanced Strategic Dialogue in London. Foreign Minister Qureshi led the Pakistani side while the British delegation was headed by their Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The two sides agreed to continue building upon the cooperation within the framework of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue to take this partnership forward. They agreed to work together to facilitate business to business contacts, explore niche areas for investment, improve the business climate and raise awareness about market opportunities in Pakistan.

The British Foreign Secretary announced the UK Department for International Trade's decision to double the available support for exports to Pakistan from up to 400 million pounds to one billion pounds as part of the growing cooperation in economic terms between the two countries.

Qureshi said new partnerships were emerging in the region and in this context Pakistan was interested in the investment of other countries in CPEC too. He said all the CPEC projects and initiatives will be completed on time. He said CPEC was a flagship project of Road and Belt Initiative which was a sprawling concept of trade and connectivity.

He said think tanks of both countries were working for the success of CPEC. The Foreign Minister said first phase of CPEC focused on infrastructure development and energy generation while in second phase industrial cooperation and socio economic development are our highest priorities.

Qureshi said: 'We have set up special economic zones that will help meet these objectives. Cooperation in agriculture between the two countries is increasing at a fast pace.'

He said leadership on both sides was clear that CPEC was a game changer and holds immense opportunities for the benefit of people.

He said CPEC will benefit all marginalised areas of Pakistan, especially Balochistan. He said Chinese projects were commercial and public oriented.

The minister said cooperation in science and technology with China was also important. He said...