Before his arrival in Shanghai on Sunday from China's Hubei Province, President Asif Ali Zardari met with Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo and visited the Three Gorges Project at Yichang, where he witnessed signing of an agreement on Chinese co-operation in hydel power generation in Pakistan.
From all available indications, his current journey to China, which is justifiably known as Pakistan's "all weather friend" was prompted by the urge to proceed with the much belated task of optimal harnessing of its resource potential the Chinese way.
That must have been precisely why during the Hubei tour, China and Pakistan agreed to enhance co-operation on agriculture and water conservancy, as China's Hubei Province and Pakistan signed four memorandums of understating, focusing hybrid seed, hybrid rapeseed, port engineering, and friendly exchanges between Hubei and Sindh province. Significantly, as the President averred, his journey to China this time was in accordance with the pledge he made to visit this country every three months, ostensibly to ensure revitalisation of the country's economic activity, emulating the Chinese example, and in a manner warranted by the fast changing global circumstances.
Challenging, of course, as the government's agenda happens to be whatever progress in that direction has been thus far can best be described as nothing more than forthright intent. And needless to point out, this also applies to signing of the MoUs. Historically ambitious though our plans have been, generally speaking, their implementation has usually left a great deal to be desired. Evidently, the only consolation this time is the Chinese involvement in the upcoming exercise, which, to say the least, should be enough confidence-inspiring.
Notably, the MoU signed between the government of Sindh and the Hubei Seed Group is aimed at joint development of rice hybrid seed and its commercial production in Pakistan. According to it, joint breeding programme between the government of Sindh and the Hubei Seed Group will be through germ-plasm technology transfer to achieve maximum productivity of the hybrid rice.
Again, the one between Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council and the Hubei Research Group focuses on the establishment of joint breeding in Pakistan, both sides to work for development and transfer of the germ-plasm technology and oil seeds to Pakistan, along side training of our scientists in breeding agronomy and oil seed production. Significantly, another MoU provides for expansion of co-operation through exchange of high profile visits and promotional events to enhance mutual understanding and friendly relations between Sindh and Hubei province.
Reference, in this context, needs be made to the MoU on establishment of dredging works at all the three Pakistani ports, canals, rivers and barrages. All in all, the MoUs appear to have been objectively conceived with a marked focus on mutual advantage of both the countries. And as they say, well begun is half done, one hopes that the beginning of implementation of the avowed scheme of things will be in such a way as leaving nothing to be desired.