LAHORE, Nov 4: Pakistan has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with a number of foreign countries for exchange of expertise and export of engineering services.

This was stated by Association of Consulting Engineers Pakistan (ACEP) Chief Ghulam Hussain here on Sunday. He led a delegation of Pakistani engineers at the six-day international conference of consulting engineers of 16 developing countries of Asia-Pacific region at China last week.

In an interview, he said that MoUs were also signed to enter into joint ventures among member countries of the region. This, he said, was a step forward in the present international scenario when the world was undergoing rapid changes to meet the WTO and GATS requirements.

He said that big engineering organisations in the developed countries were merging into each other. The conference would usher in a new era of international cooperation and promote the export of engineering services among member countries of the region. It would also help in meeting the challenges of the 21st century. It would also provide more opportunities to the developing countries to make further progress in engineering profession through the exchange of experts and engineering consultancy among 16 countries of Asia pacific region.

Engineer Ghulam Hussain said that the conference was sponsored by the Technical Consulting Development Programme for Asia and Pacific region (TCDPAP) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. It was hosted by China’s National Association of Engineering Consultants.

Besides the Asian and Pacific countries, the conference was also attended by the delegates from America, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP) and various international agencies.

He said that the delegations were also taken to the gigantic Three Gorges Hydroelectric project being constructed on Changjiang river in Hubai province.

On completion by 2009 at an estimated cost of $25 billion, the project will supply 18,200 MW cheap hydel power to the eastern and central provinces of China. It will be the largest hydel project of China and one of the largest in the world. The delegates described it as a marvel of engineering.