AJK businessmen hail Sino-Pak agreements

Political and business community welcome signing of 9 agreements and 4 MoUs.

MIRPUR: The political and business communities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir welcomed the signing of nine agreements and four MoUs between China and Pakistan during the ongoing visit of the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Welcoming the cooperation in various fields including defence, trade, investment, information technology, economy, energy, transportation and agriculture, eminent AJK business tycoon and former president Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed said these agreements would lead the country to economic progress and prosperity. Talking to APP here on Saturday, Saeed said the ongoing visit of the Chinese Premier was of exceptional importance as it would further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

President AJK Chamber of Commerce & Industry (AJKCCI) Javed Iqbal said the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao was of historic importance as both countries were already close to each other.

In a statement, Iqbal said it was a known fact that China had always helped the country in tough times, be it war with India or natural disasters like earthquakes or floods.

He expressed hope that the recent agreements and MoUs would strengthen the defence of the geographical frontiers of both the nations.

The AJKCCI president said these agreements would also benefit AJK territory, where Chinese firms and expertise were engaged in over 14 development projects of public welfare, including raising and construction of existing and proposed mega hydel power projects including the country’s second largest dam at Mangla and the Neelam-Jhelum hydel power project at Muzaffarabad.

Under the five years development programme launched in 2006 for strengthening economic relations, existing trade is to be enhanced to $15 billion by 2012. More than 62 different projects have been identified under this programme for investment in various economic fields and are at different stages of completion.

In the past few years, China has invested more than $1.3 billion in the country. Over 120 Chinese companies have invested in oil, gas, IT, telecom, power generation, engineering, automobiles, infrastructure and mining in Pakistan and AJK.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2010.