Chinese policies can help to lift Pakistani people from poverty: PM

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Chinese policies can help the Pakistani people to lift from poverty and can guide in devising indigenous policies in this area. Speaking to the Chinese journalists before leaving for China, the prime minister said the way China tackled poverty and corruption is a role model for us. “We can learn from China more than any other country and Chinese experiences will help improve the issues we are facing now,” the PM said. He added that Pakistan is endowed with rich natural resources that have not been utilized. Imran Khan said corruption is the biggest enemy of Pakistan and we need special skills to track the white collar crime. He also said that poverty reduction is most important segment of our manifesto and Chinese policies to lift the people from poverty can guide us in devising indigenous policies in this area. The prime minister said that Pakistan also wants to improve its exports in order to curtail the current account deficit. He said our main export is textile and Chinese help in giving value addition to our products will improve our prospects of exporting finished products in the world market. Imran Khan said CPEC is a whole encompassing idea and we are moving to its next phases. He said investment in industrial zones as well as in the socio-economic development is very important for improving the overall economy. Referring to agriculture, he said this industry needs to be established on modern lines. The Prime Minister said Pakistan enjoys a 700 km long coastline and our fishery industry can be improved to increase its share of seafood in the world. The Prime Minister said Pakistan is looking forward to enhance relations with all friendly countries. He said Saudi Arabia pledged to help us in order to stabilize our economy. He said financial help from friendly countries is much better than taking loans from IMF and other multilateral financial institutions due to their stringent conditions. PM Khan said a tough program has been put in place to improve governance and efforts are also underway to encourage investment friendly environment in the country. Imran Khan said Chinese development model is unique because unlike Western development models that are driven by market, the Chinese one is pushed by the government.