Balochistan parliamentary team visits Australia

A nineteen-member Balochistan parliamentary delegation, led by provincial assembly Speaker Rahila Hameed Durrani, visited Australia from November 27 to December 4, 2016. It was the first-ever delegation of its kind from Balochistan to Australia, not only for having members from all parties, but also in its mission to explore ways and means to further fortify relations between Balochistan and Queensland and learning from Australian experience for capacity building of this province, says a press release issued here on Wednesday.
During the banquet lunch in honour of the Balochistan delegation, hosted by the Peter Wellington MP, Speaker of Queensland Parliament, emphasis was laid on the need for more parliamentary exchanges between the two provinces. Speaker Wellington while appreciating Rahila Durrani for being the first woman speaker from Balochistan, stated that it was a manifestation of progress and development taking place in that province. The two sides expressed their mutual desire to develop stronger trade relations.
It was hoped that a trade delegation from Queensland would visit Balochistan in near future. It would give a new impetus to the existing cordial ties. The delegation also briefed their Queensland counterparts about the development in Balochistan. A seminar was held at the Business School of Queensland University on "Development in Balochistan: Challenges and Opportunities." Speaker Rahila Durrani in her address while recognising the commonalities between Queensland and Balochistan stated that the Government of Balochistan was keen to develop mutually beneficial co-operation between the two provinces in diverse areas including fisheries, livestock, education and agriculture.
She expressed keen interest in establishing linkages among the universities of the two provinces for the capacity building of youth and hoped that scholarships would be offered to our students.
High Commissioner for Pakistan, Naela Chohan while welcoming the delegation and underscoring the significance of the visit, informed the participants of the commitment of Government of Pakistan to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and its Vision 2025 which included special emphasis on improving social indicators of the resource-rich Balochistan.
She also highlighted the failed outside interference designed to impede development activity, particularly, in the context of CPEC and concluded that Balochistan was on the rise and nothing could stop it. During briefings in various Australian Departments, the members of the Balochistan Parliament emphasised the need for benefiting from the Australian experience in water management, livestock and agriculture and development of minerals and mines with modern technology.-PR