BEIING: Pakistan and China on Friday signed a loan agreement for setting up the Paksat-1R Satellite ground control segment project.

The loan agreement was signed by Ambassador Masood Khan on behalf of Economic Affairs Division with the EXIM Bank of China.

Paksat-1R will be launched on August 14, 2011 replacing the current communication satellite Paksat 1. It is one of the hallmarks of Pakistan-China cooperation.

A contract for the project was signed between SUPARCO and China Great Wall Industry Corporation in the presence of President Asif Zardari in Beijing in October 2008.

The contract for the ground control segment of the satellite was signed in October 2009 during Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s visit to China.

A Framework Loan Agreement between the two governments was signed in June 2010. Under the agreement, the Chinese government would provide RMB 86.5 million concessional loan for the ground control segment.

Speaking on this occasion, Ambassador Masood Khan said the agreement has further promoted Pakistan-China cooperation in the field of science and technology.

He pointed out that the satellite will become a symbol of Pakistan-China friendship.

Khan said said that once completed, the project will bring immense economic benefits to Pakistan.

Pakistan and China share a long history of space technology cooperation. Pakistan’s first low orbit satellite, Badr-1 was launched by China in 1990. The two countries have continued to enhance their cooperation in peaceful applications of space technology under an agreement signed in 1991. – APP