KARACHI: Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah and Japanese Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda on Monday agreed to work together for the development of fisheries, automobile and IT-based youth exchange programmes from the next year.

This decision was taken at a meeting held between the two here at the CM House.

The CM said there were a lot of investment opportunities for the Japanese investors in Sindh. “The provincial government encourages investment in the province directly or through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode,” he added.

The visiting envoy of Japan said they had selected automobile, fisheries and youth exchange programmes in the IT sector.

The CM said his government was working to develop the fisheries sector on international standards. “We have best jetties and large fishermen settlements,” he said and added it would be a great opportunity if the Japanese investors came over to invest in the sector and use the latest technologies to boost the fisheries sector.

He said: “If the Japanese investors want to invest on their own, the government would not only welcome them, but also extend them complete support. And if they intend to partner with the provincial government, we would do it on the PPP mode.”

The visiting envoy also showed his interest in the establishment of a Japanese automobile set-up in Karachi or at a nearby area.

The CM said his government would welcome the investment. “Japanese automobile industry will have a vast market in the region if it is established here,” Murad Ali Shah said, adding, “we have sea routes to export automobiles to the nearby countries.”

The third sector on which the host and the guest agreed to chalk out a detailed programme was the exchange of skilled youth packages under which the IT students of different universities of the province would acquire necessary training in Japan.

“This programme would generate highly skilled youth for the development of the IT industry in the two countries,” Mr Shah said.

He directed his principal secretary to develop coordination between the Japanese embassy in Islamabad and the provincial investment department to start official negotiations to materialize the projects.

Saudi Arabian envoy

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Nawaf Saeed AlMalky also called on Murad Ali Shah here at CM House and discussed matters of mutual interest.

They thanked Almighty Allah that the severity of Covid-19 was on the decline in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Italian envoy

Italian Ambassador in Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese also met the CM and discussed investment opportunities in the tourism and road sectors.

The CM said that an Italian firm had constructed the Superhighway from Karachi to Jamshoro that was a state-of-art-road built in 1965.

He urged the ambassador to invite his country’s investors on behalf of his government to meet him and discuss the road and bridge sector projects.

The chief minister presented Sindhi ajrak and caps to the visiting guests and thanked them for the meeting.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2021