QUETTA: President Ma­m­­no­on Hussain has said that the China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor will soon start bearing fruit for the people of Balochistan and urged the Baloch youth to learn Chinese language to be able to take maximum benefit from the CPEC projects being built in the province.

The president arrived in Sibi on Sunday to speak at a local bodies’ convention and later as a chief guest at the annual Sibi Cattle Show.

At the convention, the president said that Balochistan had witnessed turmoil and law and order situation for several years because of some anti-peace elements, but now thanks to sacrifices of the people of the province and members of security forces, peace had been restored to a large extent in the province and development activities were picking up pace across the province.

Mr Hussain said that it was high time to train the youth of the province to learn different skills to benefit from the ongoing CPEC projects.

Mamnoon says anti-peace elements behind turmoil in Balochistan

“The youth of Balochistan will directly benefit from the CPEC when they learn the Chinese language as it will help them to interact with Chinese experts working on different CPEC-related projects in Balochistan,” the president said, adding that the youth of Balochistan must also equip themselves with modern education to change not only of their own fate, but also of the province by steering it out of backwardness.

Mr Hussain urged authorities and departments concerned to arrange best training opportunities for the Baloch youth in different fields.

He urged the people of Balochistan to forge unity in their ranks to foil plots of anti-peace elements.

Later speaking at a ceremony of the annual Sibi Cattle Show, the president said that such events conveyed a soft image of not only the country but also of the area concerned to the world besides bringing joy and happiness to the recreation-starved people of Balochistan.

He said that he had earmarked special funds from the President House’s Funds which would be used for setting up a campus of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Gwadar.

“Now, the youth of Balochistan will learn Chinese and other modern languages at Gwadar campus of the NUML,” the president said.

Later, he distributed prizes and medals among winners of different competitions at the show.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2018