Your Excellency
President Hu Jintao,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be present here on the inauguration of Pakistan Haier and Ruba Economic Zone. We are greatly honoured by the presence of His Excellency President Hu Jintao in the historic city of Lahore, one of the most beautiful cities of the world. Lahore is also a major centre of learning, culture and the arts.
China is a true and trusted friend of Pakistan. We are proud of our enduring and time-tested friendship. Pakistan and China have common interests and aspirations. We are bound together in a strategic partnership which is an anchor for global peace, stability and progress.
China has always generously contributed towards our national development effort. We highly value Chinese assistance that has strengthened our security and development. The agreements signed during the visit of His Excellency President Hu Jintao, including those between our private sectors, will further cement our mutually beneficial relations.
The inauguration of Pakistan Haier and Ruba Economic Zone is another milestone of economic cooperation between the private sectors of our two countries. We are grateful to the Chinese government for supporting this first-ever initiative of its kind overseas. We welcome this initiative and our government will provide the necessary facilitation and incentives to support and replicate it in different parts of the country.
Let me also appreciate the contribution made by the Ruba Group, who have made substantial investments in the country and acted as a bridge between the private sectors of Pakistan and China.
During the last seven years, we in Pakistan have implemented broad-based and multi-dimensional structural reforms and put our economy on a high growth trajectory. Per capita income has risen substantially and there has been a significant reduction in poverty. Last year we received the highest ever level of foreign investment in the country.
Economic growth in Pakistan opens new avenues for Chinese entrepreneurs. With China emerging as an exporter of capital, there are huge win-win opportunities for both sides. The Free Trade Agreement and the Joint Five-Year Economic Programme provide the enabling environment for our private sectors to collaborate for mutual benefit.
We have created an investor-friendly environment in Pakistan. Our country offers vast investment opportunities in energy, oil and gas, mining, engineering, automobiles, infrastructure development, information technology and telecom, financial and agriculture sectors, to name only a few. We also have a sound and transparent privatization programme.
With a population of 160 million people and a growing middle class, Pakistan is rapidly transforming into a major market economy with large product, services and labour markets and a world class manufacturing and servicing hub of the region.
We in Pakistan are also leveraging our geo-strategic location and developing a network of infrastructure to create multiple corridors of regional cooperation involving energy, trade, transportation, tourism and people-to-people contacts. We are keen to share with our Chinese friends the advantages accruing from such linkages and complementarities.
Pakistan is open for business. There are over six hundred MNCs already profitably operating in Pakistan. For many, Pakistan is the most profitable part of their franchise. We would welcome Chinese businessmen to invest in any sector and benefit from our economic growth and dynamism.
Let me conclude by thanking His Excellency President Hu Jintao for joining us today on this landmark event. I am confident that the governments and the private sectors of our two countries will continue to collaborate for mutual benefit and thereby contribute towards the further strengthening of Pakistan-China friendship.