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Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China 

Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China 
Pakistan Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan virtually addresses the participants of the China International Fair for Trade in Services 2024 in Beijing on September 14, 2024. (Radio Pakistan)
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Updated 1 min 56 sec ago
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Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China 

Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China 
  • Over 2,000 companies from 107 countries are taking part in fair scheduled to run till Sept. 20 
  • Pakistani minister says trade fair to serve as “excellent opportunity” for investment in country
Updated 1 min 56 sec ago
Aamir Saeed
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ISLAMABAD: Around 150 Pakistani companies are taking part in an international service trade fair being held in China, Pakistan’s privatization minister said this week, announcing that the event would serve as an “excellent opportunity” to enhance investment in the South Asian country. 
The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2024 kicked off in Beijing on Sept. 12, Thursday. Scheduled to run till Sept. 20, over 2,000 companies from 107 countries around the world are taking part in the international event. The fair reflects China’s eagerness to work with the international community to seize opportunities in a fast-evolving global economy.
China is an important trade and investment partner for Pakistan. Chinese investment and financial support since 2013 have been key for Pakistan’s struggling economy, including the rolling over of loans so that Islamabad is able to meet external financing needs at a time when its foreign reserves are critically low.
In his virtual address to the fair, Pakistan’s Investment and Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan spoke about the “ample scope” for investment in agriculture, livestock, food processing and minerals sectors in Pakistan.
“Abdul Aleem Khan said that this international event will be an excellent opportunity and positive step for investment [in Pakistan] with great expectations,” Pakistan’s privatization ministry said in a press release. 
It said that Pakistan would ensure all possible support for investments from China, adding that the country was keen on availing opportunities offered by special economic and export processing zones. 
Khan noted that Pakistani companies were getting more opportunities to increase their business-to-business activities with China to establish or shift industries to Pakistan. 
“He indicated that under CPEC, transport, infrastructure, energy and communication in Pakistan has been developed visibly and there has been a significant improvement in these sectors,” the ministry said, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. 
CPEC is a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative through which it has pledged over $60 billion in investment projects in Pakistan. Various power and infrastructure projects have already been built in the South Asian country under CPEC but the implementation of various projects has slowed in recent months.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China in June on a five-day trip. Sharif’s visit was aimed at upgrading and enhancing CPEC projects, strengthening bilateral ties and fostering stronger ties between the business communities of the two countries.

Topics: Pakistan china Pakistan China trade China International Fair for Trade in Services

Five coal miners die of suffocation from hazardous gas in southwest Pakistan

Five coal miners die of suffocation from hazardous gas in southwest Pakistan
Updated 19 sec ago
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Five coal miners die of suffocation from hazardous gas in southwest Pakistan

Five coal miners die of suffocation from hazardous gas in southwest Pakistan
  • The incident took place in Balochistan’s Harnai district where 12 miners were killed in an explosion in March
  • The province’s chief mines inspector says the laborers who lost their lives due to asphyxiation were Afghans
Updated 19 sec ago
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: Five coal mine laborers died of suffocation on Saturday after the mine filled with hazardous gas in the Shah Rag area of Harnai district, located in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, according to the province’s chief mines inspector.
Balochistan, known for its rich mineral resources, has a history of such accidents, reflecting the region’s unsafe mining practices. Earlier this year, in March, a gas explosion in a coal mine in the same district claimed the lives of 12 laborers due to gas buildup and a lack of proper safety protocols.
While provincial authorities said they were taking notice of the development, workers in many mines across the province still lack adequate protective gear amid an absence of essential safety protocols.
“Five coal laborers suffocated to death due to a lack of oxygen in the mine, while one managed to survive,” Abdul Ghani Baloch, Balochistan’s chief mines inspector, told Arab News. “The workers were 400 feet inside the coal mine when oxygen deficiency took place for unknown reasons.”
He said the area where the incident occurred is located about 137 kilometers from the provincial capital Quetta, adding that the miners who had died belonged to Afghanistan.
“The bodies of the coal mine workers have been reprieved and shifted to their native villages in in the neighboring country,” he continued.
“The provincial mining teams have visited the area and commenced an investigation to know the causes of the incident,” he added.

Topics: Coal miners killed Coal miners

Chinese military officials vow ‘unfettered commitment’ to Pakistan in meeting with top general

Chinese military officials vow ‘unfettered commitment’ to Pakistan in meeting with top general
Updated 3 min 50 sec ago
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Chinese military officials vow ‘unfettered commitment’ to Pakistan in meeting with top general

Chinese military officials vow ‘unfettered commitment’ to Pakistan in meeting with top general
  • General Sahir Shamshad holds separate meetings with the top officials of China’s Central Military Commission
  • The Chinese generals acknowledge progress related to bilateral strategic partnership and defense cooperation
Updated 3 min 50 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Two top Chinese military officials highlighted their country’s “unfettered commitment” to standing in solidarity with Pakistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Saturday, as they met with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza during his visit to Beijing.
China and Pakistan’s strategic partnership, rooted in decades of close ties, has expanded beyond defense cooperation to encompass infrastructure development and regional connectivity. Through projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the administration in Beijing has bolstered Pakistan’s economy by billions of dollars of investment.
Simultaneously, Pakistan remains firmly committed to the One-China policy, underscoring its support to Beijing on key issues like Taiwan and Tibet, while China continues to deepen its defense ties with Pakistan, to serve mutual security interests.
“General Sahir Shamshad Mirza ... on an official visit to [the] People’s Republic of China held separate meetings with General He Weidong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and General Liu Zhenli, Chief of CMC Joint Staff Department, and delivered a talk in 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on the Role of Pakistan toward regional peace and stability,” the ISPR said.
It informed that both sides appreciated the deep and historic relationship between Pakistan and China in multiple domains and acknowledged progress related to bilateral strategic and defense cooperation.
“The Chinese leadership ... reaffirmed their unfettered commitment to support Pakistan on its territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the ISPR added.
Just a day ago, the Pakistani general told a major forum in Beijing that CPEC was not just beneficial for his country’s economy but also a “stabilizing force” for South Asia.
He also maintained that the strategic cooperation between the two countries was “a cornerstone for peace and stability” for a region fraught with security challenges.

Topics: ISPR General Sahir Shamshad Mirza Pakistan China Ties

Government in a fix as Pakistan top court orders immediate implementation of reserved seats verdict

Government in a fix as Pakistan top court orders immediate implementation of reserved seats verdict
Updated 14 September 2024
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Government in a fix as Pakistan top court orders immediate implementation of reserved seats verdict

Government in a fix as Pakistan top court orders immediate implementation of reserved seats verdict
  • Supreme Court ruled in July the PTI was eligible for reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies
  • Judgment was viewed as a setback for PM Sharif’s ruling coalition and was not implemented by the ECP
Updated 14 September 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday censured the election regulatory authority for its “dilatory tactics” to avoid the implementation of a judgment on reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial legislatures that favored the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, warning of potential consequences.
The court has addressed the issue through a short order at a time when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government is planning to get a constitutional amendment passed from parliament to allegedly give an extended term to the country’s top judge. The amendment requires two-third majority in both houses of parliament, though the coalition can lose a portion of its existing number of seats after the apex court ruling.
In a verdict on July 12, a 13-member bench of the court declared the PTI of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan eligible for the reserved seats after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) forced the party’s candidates to contest the February 8 polls as independents.
The ECP took the decision after the PTI lost its election symbol in the wake of a prolonged legal battle for not holding proper intra-party polls. Subsequently, the election body refused the reserved seats to the PTI on technical grounds, saying they were only meant for political parties instead of independent candidates.
The Supreme Court overturned the ECP decision, saying it had misconstrued an earlier verdict related to the election symbol by depriving the PTI of the reserved seats. Instead of giving the seats to the party, however, the election body filed a petition, seeking guidance on the matter and questioning the validity of the party’s organizational structure under the circumstances.

“The clarification sought by the Commission [ECP] … is nothing more than a contrived device and the adoption of dilatory tactics, adopted to delay, defeat and obstruct implementation of the decision of the court,” read the court’s four-page order.
“The attempt by the Commission to confuse and cloud what is otherwise absolutely clear as a matter of the Constitution and the law must therefore be strongly deprecated,” it added.
The government and its allies are currently struggling to complete the required two-third majority for the constitutional amendment allegedly to revisit the length of the top judge’s tenure.
As per the official tally, it is short of at least 13 lawmakers in the National Assembly and nine in the Senate to gain the required number.
In recent days, the top government leaders have tried to complete the numerical strength by wooing opposition parties like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and some PTI lawmakers who are yet to be declared members of the party due to the delayed implementation by the ECP of the Supreme Court judgment.
The four-page Supreme Court order may serve as a setback to these efforts since it recognizes the PTI-backed independent candidates “members of the parliamentary party of PTI in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies concerned, for all constitutional and legal purposes.”
“The continued failure of, and refusal by, the [ECP] to perform this legally binding obligation [of implementing the July verdict] may, as noted, have consequences,” the order said.
“This obligation must be discharged forthwith,” it added.
Speaking to Arab News, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, a legal expert, described the order without ambiguity.
“This is a clear order from the Supreme Court that all returned independent candidates of the PTI are deemed to be PTI lawmakers,” he said.
“The election commission is now left with no choice but to notify all independent returned candidates as lawmakers of the PTI forthwith,” he added. “The top court has censured the ECP for delaying the implementation, but now one can hope that this issue will come to a logical conclusion within days with allocation of the reserved seats to the PTI.”

Topics: Supreme Court of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) PTI reserved seats National Assembly of Pakistan

Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture

Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture
Updated 14 September 2024
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Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture

Saudi Arabia offers 15% investment in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mining venture
  • Reko Diq in Pakistan’s southwest is considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold resources
  • State-owned media says Pakistan expects up to $5 billion of Saudi investment in mining, agriculture by June 2025
Updated 14 September 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has offered a 15 percent investment in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine project in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, according to Pakistani state-owned media on Saturday.
Reko Diq is considered one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold resources, primarily operated by Canada’s Barrick Gold, which holds a 50 percent stake in it.
The remaining stake is owned by three federal state-owned enterprises and the Balochistan provincial government, though Pakistan has also invited Saudi Arabia to invest in the project.
“Saudi Arabia has offered fifteen percent investment in Reko Diq Mining project,” the Radio Pakistan said in one of its reports. “The Kingdom has also offered grants to build road infrastructure around the Reko Diq project.”
“Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has approved the structure of the offer but the final decision has been left to the Cabinet Committee on Intergovernmental Transactions,” it added.
Pakistan set up the SIFC, a civil-military hybrid body, last year in June with the sole purpose of reviving the frail national economy, dented by low foreign exchange reserves, currency depreciation and record inflation.
Barrick Gold’s top official, Mark Bristow, has also acknowledged the Saudi interest in the project, saying his company would not dilute its equity.
However, he added that Barrick Gold would not oppose any decision by the Pakistan government to sell part of its stake to Saudia Arabia.
Radio Pakistan said the government in Islamabad expects up to $5 billion investment in the mining and agriculture sector by June next year.

Topics: Reko Diq

Pakistan calls US sanctions on firms allegedly aiding missile program ‘politically motivated’

Pakistan calls US sanctions on firms allegedly aiding missile program ‘politically motivated’
Updated 14 September 2024
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Pakistan calls US sanctions on firms allegedly aiding missile program ‘politically motivated’

Pakistan calls US sanctions on firms allegedly aiding missile program ‘politically motivated’
  • US sanctioned a Chinese institute, other companies this week after accusing them of helping Pakistan
  • China says it opposes such unilateral sanctions, vows to protect interests of its citizens and companies
Updated 14 September 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday criticized the recent decision by the United States to impose sanctions on commercial entities accused of aiding Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, calling it “biased and politically motivated.”
The US imposed the sanctions on a Chinese research institute and several companies on Thursday, alleging they had supplied missile-applicable items to Pakistan.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry had collaborated with Pakistan to procure equipment for testing rocket motors for the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel systems, and potentially for larger systems.
He maintained that the US decision reflected its commitment to “act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern, wherever they occur.”
“Pakistan considers this action as biased and politically-motivated,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in response to media queries related to the development. “Similar listings of commercial entities in the past were based on mere suspicion [and] involved items not listed under any export control regime and yet were considered sensitive under broad, catch-all provisions.”
The administration in Washington had also targeted three China-based companies with sanctions last year in October on similar grounds.
“It is widely known that some countries, while claiming strict adherence to nonproliferation norms, have conveniently waived licensing requirements for advanced military technologies to their favored states,” Baloch continued.
“Such double standards and discriminatory practices undermine the credibility of global nonproliferation regimes, increase military asymmetries, and endanger international peace and security,” she added.
China has already said it will “firmly protect” the rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals.
One of its diplomats in Washington said this week his country “opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council.”
With input from Reuters

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Pakistan US armies Pakistan foreign office

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