Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the coming visit of Chinese Prime Minister would further deepen the excellent bilateral ties in political, diplomatic and economic fields, as the two countries are expected to conclude an 'Early Harvest Programme' towards finally signing a free trade agreement (FTA). Among the several accords to be signed during the visit would be protocols to allow exports of fruits, vegetables, and rice as, he said, China is a big market and Pakistan wants to be a part of it.
Talking to Chinese media persons ahead of the three-day visit of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, starting from April 5, he described as "very important" the fact that Pakistan would be his first destination of the Asian tour which would also take him to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. "We are very pleased that Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is starting his trip to South Asia from Pakistan," Shaukat said.
The Chinese Premier will also deliver keynote address at the opening session of 'Fourth Asian Co-operative Dialogue' (ACD) ministerial meeting on April 6. Prime Minister Aziz indicated to finalise an 'early harvest programme' with China as part of the free trade negotiations which he held during his visit to China in December last year.
"We are going for the Early Harvest Programme. We have identified the products and will finalise it, which will allow special tariff arrangements for certain goods," he said. These goods have already been agreed to under the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).
The Early Harvest Programme would serve as the foundation-stone in finally signing the FTA which would boost the existing trade of around 2.5 billion dollars a year between the two countries. "We also feel that this visit is a follow-up of my visit to Beijing a few months ago and will be part of the ongoing process for Pakistan and China to increase their co-operation even more," the Prime Minister said.
The two sides will also discuss the regional issues and situation in Asia and the world and the issue of United Nations reforms, he added.
"China and Pakistan consult each other regularly on major diplomatic issues and this is a very good mechanism we have developed to share ideas and our views, and come up with positions on various issues," he said. Shaukat said the two countries have enjoyed time-tested deep friendship, which has developed over decades of close contacts with each other. "The basis of our relationship is shared values. We share position on major issues, facing the world."
He said: "We are looking at it as process of cementing and deepening the already strong relations between the two countries and strategically we share lots of views; so it is the bonding of the new leadership." The Prime Minister recalled his visit to Beijing during which he held talks with President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the entire Chinese leadership on a broad spectrum of Pak-China relations.
"We also believe that the long-term vision of Pakistan-China relations is one of working to ensure peace in the world and helping each other politically, diplomatically, economically and growing the cultural ties and people to people contacts." He said that the two countries are also co-operating in the defence areas, and referred to the joint production of defence equipment and the JF-17 'Thunder' aircraft which is likely to be commissioned into Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 2006.
In the field of power generation, he said, Pakistan hopes to finalise the Chashma II nuclear power station with the help of Chinese government. The Prime Minister identified chemical, engineering, construction, and infrastructure-roads, ports, bridges-as some of the potential areas where the Chinese entrepreneurs could invest and benefit from the country's conducive investment-friendly climate.
"Other new areas are agriculture and agro-based industry and corporate farming as China has good technology in agri-based industry and fisheries and dairy products," he said, and added that there is a big potential in broad based areas.
The Prime Minister said that today the largest number of contracts, awarded to any country, is to Chinese contractors. There are over 600 foreign companies operating in Pakistan, of which about 60 are Chinese, mostly operating in public utilities and infrastructure sectors, such as mining, telecommunication and energy.
Prime Minister Aziz said 'Qingqi' motorcycle, being manufactured in Pakistan, is very popular in rural areas, replacing the horse-drawn carriages. Pakistan is also getting many parts of automobiles from China which is a big supplier of machinery to the country, he added.
"The people of Pakistan want to deal with Chinese companies. They think China as one of the best and closest friends," he said, and added that Pakistan "is proud of its friendship" with China. He also underlined the important role the Karakoram Highway could play in promoting trade co-operation. "We want to offer it as a corridor to China to access the warm waters of Arabian Sea. We have seen recently that with the economic activities and increased demand, more and more Chinese goods are coming through land route, via KKH." He described it as a "superb development," as it justifies the whole basis of the KKH, also known as 'Silk Route'.
"The Karakoram Highway is a land bridge between the two countries and it is the bridge for peace, prosperity and we are offering this land bridge all the way to Karachi."