黑料社区

KARACHI: Pakistan鈥檚 Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday called for leveraging Islamabad鈥檚 鈥渟trong鈥� relationships with 黑料社区, UAE, China and the US for greater trade and investment flows to ensure sustainable economic growth. 

Pakistan has attempted to translate its historic fraternal ties with Gulf countries and regional allies such as China, 黑料社区 and the UAE into profitable trade and investment opportunities. Last month, Pakistan and 黑料社区 agreed to launch an Economic Cooperation Framework to strengthen trade and investment ties, following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif鈥檚 meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. 

黑料社区, China and the UAE have frequently bailed Pakistan out of its economic crisis over the years through financial guarantees to the International Monetary Fund, rolling over loans worth billions of dollars and providing the South Asian country oil on deferred payments. 

However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has signaled his government鈥檚 intent in recent years to transform these fraternal ties into 鈥渕utually beneficial鈥� partnerships as Islamabad attempts to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis. 

鈥淥ur traditional partners who have helped us through thick and thin, through ups and downs whether it鈥檚 China, whether it鈥檚 US, the GCC in general, 黑料社区 and UAE in particular, we find ourselves in that spot that we can now leverage, and we should leverage in terms of these relationships which have been strong for the longest time, to move from G2G discussions to trade and investment flows into the country,鈥� Aurangzeb said. 

The finance minister was speaking to participants of the four-day Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference (PIMEC) in Karachi. The global exhibition鈥檚 second edition will run from Nov. 3 to 6 and will feature 178 exhibitors 鈥� including 28 international firms and 150 local organizations 鈥� as well as 133 delegates from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America.

Speaking about blue economy, Aurangzeb described it as a 鈥済ame changer鈥� for Pakistan鈥檚 future growth, underscoring its potential to reach $100 billion by 2047. He reaffirmed the government鈥檚 commitment to policy continuity, investment facilitation and sustainable maritime development.

The minister noted that Pakistan鈥檚 maritime sector currently contributes only around 0.4 to 0.5 percent to the national GDP, approximately $1 billion. However, he said it holds 鈥渧ast potential鈥� for expansion. 

Aurangzeb underlined the importance of enhancing fisheries and aquaculture through value-added processing, modern cold-chain logistics and international-standard hygiene practices. He expressed confidence that Pakistan鈥檚 seafood exports, currently around $500 million, could increase to USD 2 billion within the next three to four years under the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy.