Summary Chinese envoy has said that friendship with Pakistan will remain unchanged and untouched.
No matter what changes occur at the international and domestic landscape, said Liu Jian.
In an exclusive interview with Radio Pakistan conducted by Murtaza Solangi‚ Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Liu Jian emphatically stated that Pakistan-China friendship is higher than the Himalayas‚ deeper than the sea and sweeter than the honey.
He said the region is faced with complex challenges‚ and both the countries need to work more closely to tackle them. We should focus our attention on economic development and improving the lives of the people. It is in our common interests to enhance cooperation in all the fields.
Emphasizing the need for closer people to people contacts between the two countries‚ the ambassador said the business community should come forward to make the Free Trade Agreement [FTA] a big success. He said the FTA between the two countries has resulted in increased economic relations between Pakistan and China. This year the balance of bilateral trade remained in favor of Pakistan.
We want more Chinese delegations to visit Pakistan to buy the products from the friendly country. Business Community of both the countries should take full advantage of the FTA. Besides‚ the currency swap agreement signed last year will encourage more investment and economic cooperation between the two sides.
The ambassador also underlined the need for greater exchanges of youth delegations so that the young generations could strengthen their bonds.
When asked what Pakistan should do to further increase exports to China‚ Liu Jian said governments of both the countries should take further steps and formulate policies to bolster economic cooperation. He said business people of both the countries should be encouraged to engage with each other more to explore the opportunities of cooperation. Events like trade fairs provide excellent opportunity to the businessmen for greater interaction.
He said his country will encourage more entrepreneurs to visit Pakistan as there is huge potential of cooperation between the two countries which need to be exploited.
When queried about Pakistan-China s cooperation in different spheres including energy and infrastructure‚ the Chinese Ambassador said the two countries formed Pakistan-China energy cooperation mechanism. It has held two meetings so far while the third meeting is expected early next year. This platform is important to see what China can do to help Pakistan meet the energy crisis.
The interview will be aired with Urdu voice over in programme Naey Ufaq of National Broadcasting Service of Radio Pakistan at 08.05 tomorrow. The original English version of the interview will be broadcast by English Channel Planet FM-94 at the same time besides availability of its audio and video at PBC website and smart phones.
