Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday called for strong and vibrant Pakistan-China economic partnership and promoting comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy including nuclear power generation.
"The government and the people of Pakistan attach highest importance to further strengthening our age-old ties of friendship and cooperation and to add greater content, substance and vigor to our strategic partnership," he said while inaugurating the three-day Pakistan-China Energy Forum here.
"Time has come to reinforce our traditional friendship with a strong and vibrant economic partnership," he told the forum being attended by some 150 Chinese delegates and more than 300 Pakistani energy, financial experts and entrepreneurs.
This is the first meeting of the forum that is taking place after the two countries signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation in Energy during President General Pervez Musharraf''s visit to China in February.
Hu Deping, Minister and Vice Chairman All China Federation for Industry and Commerce also attended the forum.
Prime Minister Aziz said the government''s policies of liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation, coupled with deep and wide-ranging structural reforms had set Pakistan on high growth path. However, he described water and energy security as critical to sustaining the accelerated growth within a band of six to eight percent.
He shared with the participants the government''s strategic direction for development of the energy sector and to ensure sustainable supply of energy at competitive to all sectors of the economy. This included increasing emphasis on nuclear energy as the Prime Minister expressed the hope to generating 8800 MW through the source in the next 25 years.
The strategic direction also include enhancing exploitation of hydropower to make industry more competitive by reducing cost of inputs; developing and encouraging use of renewable energy resources, developing coal reserves, accelerating exploration and production of indigenous oil and gas, options to import gas and encouraging use of CNG, LPG and import of LNG to meet short-term gas requirements.
Prime Minister Aziz underlined Pakistan''s geo-strategic location at the confluence of three vital regions South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia'' providing the shortest access to the sea for all landlocked countries of Central Asia as well as Western China.
Pakistan, he added, was also fast emerging as the junction for multiple corridors of cooperation between all three regions involving energy, trade, transportation and tourism.
In this regard, the Prime Minister mentioned the building of deepwater port at Gwadar with the Chinese assistance and construction of road and rail links to facilitate and operationalise accesses among the three regions.
"We are interested in developing Gwadar not only as a transshipment port but also as an ''energy port'' by establishing mega refineries, building storage capacity and laying pipeline ensuring secure and reliable supplies to Western China," he added.
Prime Minister Aziz said the Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation reflected the determination of the Pakistan and Chinese government to promote comprehensive cooperation in the field of energy. That included nuclear power, fossil fuels, renewable resources, coal as well as realise the concept of building energy corridor between Pakistan and China, he added.
The Prime Minister urged the Forum to develop comprehensive agenda as well as mechanism to institutionalise energy cooperation between Pakistan and China.
He specifically asked the participants to focus on enhancing cooperation in nuclear power generation, increasing oil and gas exploration activity, building energy corridor to China, increasing oil refining, storage capacity and laying oil pipelines and ensuring secure supplies.
The Prime Minister also urged the forum to initiate studies for energy corridor to China, transportation networks from Pakistani ports overland to China and promote cooperation between private sectors of the two countries.
Chinese Minister Hu Deping recalled the all-weather Pakistan-China friendship, saying the two countries shared all-dimensional friendly ties.
He said China had 10 neighbours but its friendship with Pakistan was the most "loyal friendship" and the strong ties between the two trusted allies had withstood all changes at the global and regional level.
While the two countries enjoyed excellent political and diplomatic ties, Minister Hu Deping, however, called for more cooperation in trade and economic fields.
He recalled that during President Musharraf''s visit to Beijing, the two countries signed 13 agreements and memorandum of understanding (MoUs) that will further boost their time-tested friendship.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon in his address highlighted Pakistan''s energy requirements, which had grown by over nine percent last year.
He said Pakistan needed to make an investment of US 150 billion dollars in the next 25 years to meet its growing energy requirements and to fuel its economic and social development in a sustainable manner.
Pakistan''s energy mix is highly dependent on fossil fuels - natural gas contributes 51 per cent, oil contributes 29 per cent, coal provides eight per cent, hydroelectricity meets 11 percent and nuclear energy makes up for one per cent of the total demand.