Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday left for China on his first official visit to the country after assuming the office.
The prime minister was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Commerce Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal.
According to a Foreign Office statement, the prime minister, during his visit from November 2 to 5, would hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. After his visit to Beijing, the prime minister would participate in the First China International Import Expo in Shanghai, where Pakistan is exhibiting a wide range of export products. Prime Minister will be a keynote speaker at the inauguration ceremony of the expo.
On the sidelines of Shanghai forum, the prime minister would hold meetings with other world leaders as well as the leaders of Chinese financial and corporate sector.
Speaking to Chinese media ahead of his departure, the prime minister said his visit will serve as a great opportunity for Pakistan to increase its exports, narrow down trade deficit and earn more revenue to address the looming financial issues.
“We need some help to push our exports. The main issue for Pakistan right now is the current account deficit,” he said.
Khan said that Pakistan has many items including textiles, agricultural products, sports goods, surgical equipment and leather goods to export, adding that his government is taking a series of tough reforms to make Pakistan’s export items more competitive in the global market.
“Once our governance system improves, and the cost of doing business in Pakistan goes down, we will then be able to compete with our international competitors,” he added.
Published in Daily Times, November 2nd 2018.
