Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will project the progress in implementing USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects during this year’s Boao Forum for Asia, according to the Foreign Office.
This year’s forum in Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of China’s Hainan, will be themed ‘Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity’.
The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Abbasi will lead the Pakistani delegation to the Boao Forum Annual Conference for Asia.
Abbasi will be one of the keynote speakers in the opening session of the forum along with President Xi Jinping, and other leaders attending the annual forum.
“The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with Chinese and other world leaders,” said the FO.
The Forum would provide an opportunity to Abbasi to project the progress in implementing China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects.
The 3,000-km-long CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical cable fiber network. It connects China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port, providing access to China to the Arabian Sea.
The project, when completed, would enable China to pump its oil supplies from the Middle East through pipelines to Xinjiang cutting considerable distance for Chinese ships to travel to China.
“The visit will help in promoting Pakistan as a successful economic partner in the region as well as in the global context, the FO said.
The Boao Forum for Asia is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large.
Modelled after the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland, the Boao Forum has its fixed address in Bo’ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing.
Pakistan is one of the 26 countries of this Forum, according to the FO.
