SANYA: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that regional connectivity, open trade and increased economic growth are the key to promote tolerance and deny space to extremism.

“Pakistan is partnering with China to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity through enhanced connectivity,” PM Abbasi said while addressing the Boao Forum in China’s Hainan province on Tuesday.

Describing development and security as intrinsically indivisible, the prime minister said: “Only by spreading the dividends of open trade and shared innovation we will be able to promote tolerance and amity and deny space to extremism.” The China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral framework was aimed at achieving these very objectives, he added.

He said connectivity remained the cornerstone of Pakistan’s plans and was a major driving force behind its overlapping membership of the regional platforms of ECO, Saarc and SCO.

“In Pakistan today, step by step, brick by brick, a brave new Asia is taking shape,” he said, adding that China-Pakistan relations found no parallel in history. “In every sense, we are iron brothers. In our region, our friendship is the bedrock of strategic stability.”

Mr Abbasi said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — the flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative — was fast reaching fruition and termed it an excellent example of an open, coordinated and inclusive development paradigm that would benefit all stakeholders. He said work on the Gwadar deep seaport at the southern tip of the CPEC was proceeding at a fast track. On completion, it would not only serve as a transit and trans-shipment hub, but also become an economic nucleus, he added.

Tells Boao Forum that tailored incentives being offered for investment in special economic zones of CPEC

The CPEC would provide the shortest maritime and overland access to Western China, Central and South Asia and the Middle East, the prime minister told the conference being held on the theme of “An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity”. In 2017, he said, nearly one-third of the worldwide economic growth came from the Asia-Pacific region, the bulk of it from China.

PM Abbasi said President Xi’s historic Belt and Road Initiative had become a source of global public good, bringing equality to an unequal world. “This visionary and futuristic initiative is a win-win proposition aimed at bringing shared prosperity for all.” He said this initiative was going to shape the course of the 21st century.

Pakistan had already begun reaping dividends of CPEC rail, road and infrastructure projects. The establishment of several special economic zones along the highways and motorways was integral to CPEC plans, he said, adding that Pakistan would offer tailored incentive packages for these zones which would catalyse the development of innovation-based industries in the country.

PM Abbasi said Pakistan’s economy was growing at around six per cent per annum. “Our capital markets have lately been upgraded from the frontier status to an emerging market status. Over the medium-term, our growth rates are expected to surpass global averages. And by 2050, we will be the world’s 15th largest economy,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s population of 207 million reflected immense human resource potential, besides a large consumer base. Gelled together, he said, the two intrinsic strengths portended immense business opportunities.

Extending heartiest felicitations to President Xi Jinping on his re-election, PM Abbasi said: “Under his sagacious leadership, China, I am convinced, will continue to march forward along the path of National Rejuvenation.”

He concluded his speech with a Chinese saying “The man who moves mountains begins by carrying away small stones”. He said it’s time to lift stones; it’s time to move mountains.

Earlier upon his arrival, PM Abbasi was received by President Xi Jinping.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2018