Pakistan highly values its ties with China: Fehmida Mirza

Fehmida Mirza on Tuesday said that Pakistan committed to further enhance cooperation with China.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing called on Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Besides areas of mutual interest, matters pertaining to social sector development, sports and youth internship and exchange programmes were discussed during the meeting.

Fehmida Mirza warmly welcomed the guests and said that China is our trusted friend and Pakistan highly values its ties with China. “We are committed to further enhance cooperation with China in multidimensional spheres and one of the major areas of cooperation is sports,” she said.

The Minister underscored the need of renewed cooperation in sports and said that sports were neglected in past but the incumbent government is determined to facilitate and improve the standard of sports in Pakistan. “We would welcome Chinese cooperation in technical areas, infrastructural and skill development in sports,” she said.

While highlighting the importance of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Minister said that CPEC is our national priority. It is very important for sustainable peace in the region.

The Chinese envoy Yao Jing said that initially, CPEC was focusing on infrastructure but its next phase is focusing more on social sector development. It was agreed that the Youth Exchange Programme should be revised and for that, the envoy suggested that more specific, focused and small groups should be exchanged between the countries on regular basis.

Both sides agreed to further expand the range of cooperation between the two countries by improving cooperation in Sports, Culture, education, poverty alleviation and women empowerment.