- 300 graduates to go to China for a training of 3 months in the first phase.
- 400 to undergo a 6 -month program in the second phase of the initiative.
- PM urges graduates to provide techniques to increase yield by acre.
Islamabad: Accentuating the importance of Pakistani-Chinese friendship, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday credited Beijing for the Monetary Fund Program (IMF) of Islamabad saying that he would not have been possible without the support of the neighboring country.
The Prime Minister’s remarks – made during a ceremony organized as part of the PM initiative for capacity building of 1,000 graduates in agriculture in China – came in the context of last month’s agreement between Islamabad and the IMF during the first review of the 37 -month rescue program with a value of $ 7 billion.
After approval by the IMF board of directors, Pakistan will have access to around 1 billion dollars under the EFR, bearing a total of disbursements within the framework of the program to around $ 2 billion.
The lender’s body will envisage approval of approximately 2.3 billion dollars in a period of six weeks with expectations that Islamabad will be able to obtain the amount of the loan during the first week of May 2025, before the next budget for the fiscal year 2025-26.
The world lender had also announced a new 28 -month -old agreement – pending the approval of the board of directors, Pakistan can unlock the $ 1.3 billion as part of a climate resilience loan program extending over 28 months.
The Prime Minister, in his speech today, stressed that China was one of the most sincere friends who always held by his side at the difficult time.
Returning its commitment to transforming the agriculture sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz qualified it essential to achieve sustainable economic growth and stressed that the strengthening of the country’s agricultural spine would help ensure food security, stimulate exports and improve livelihood for millions of farmers.
“We have to focus on significant agricultural practices, digital culture management and the development of resilient climate seeds,” said the Prime Minister while highlighting the urgent need to revive and modernize the country’s agricultural research institutions.
It is relevant to know that in virtue of the initiative, 300 selected graduates are sent to China for a three -month training program during the first phase.
In the second phase, 400 graduates will undergo a six -month training program, followed by the remaining 300 graduates who will participate in a three -month training program in the final phase.
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister congratulated the 300 young graduates who were going to fly for China for training in agriculture techniques and acquiring knowledge. He hoped that their return to Pakistan, they would contribute to the agricultural economy.
Recalling his latest visit to China, Prime Minister Shehbaz said he was very inspired by research in various fields in the agricultural sector during his visit to Chinese universities.
“I then decided to send 1,000 young Pakistani graduates to benefit from this great experience,” he said.
The regret that the first two efforts to send graduates to China were not failed because the selection process was not up to the task, he said that he wanted to select young talents who were hopes of the nation.
“In the first and second efforts, the overwhelming majority of graduates selected were government representatives who were too much,” said the Prime Minister, adding that he had ordered an online portal to receive requests to ensure that the selection process was completed transparently.
“Now I am happy to see that the whole process is complete transparent and purely on merit,” he added.
He said graduates from all of Pakistan, including those of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, were included in the process while the Balutchistan quota was increased by 10%.
He advised graduates to work hard during their training in China and to provide modern techniques and experiences to increase acres yield in particular cotton and other cash crops.
The Prime Minister said that the government planned to grant subsidized loans to farmers to start their entrepreneurship aimed at promoting the added value of various fruits and vegetables.
The Minister of National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz, the government made efforts to increase the productivity of the agriculture and farming sectors.
He stressed that the government spent more than 3 billion rupees to provide young agricultural graduates with knowledge and first -hand experience in China.
He expressed hope that these graduates will effectively apply their skills and knowledge when they return home.
China’s ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong said he was very inspired by the performance of the Pakistani government in the past year in which the country’s macroeconomic indicators had improved considerably.
He said the Chinese government was ready to cooperate with Pakistan to promote bilateral relations, especially in the agriculture sector.
He stressed that President XI still attached great importance to their relationship with neighboring countries.
As part of the Pakistan China Economic corridor (CPEC), he said that China had made a direct investment of around 35.4 billion dollars, reflecting the strong relationship between the two countries.