Muscat: Pakistan is eyeing to be the gateway to Oman and China as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) gains momentum, said Sartaj Aziz, advisor to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Foreign Affairs in Muscat.
\nAziz who is on a two-day bilateral visit to Oman, was addressing the Pakistani community in Oman at Pakistan School Muscat.
\n\u201cThe strategic location of Gwadar port city on the coast of Balochistan, will help Oman explore opportunities in western China. Oman’s close proximity to Gwadar will benefit the country as CPEC progresses. Oman is building new refineries and even if ten per cent oil is exported it would benefit Oman. It would also help Oman identify various economic opportunities.
\n\u201cWe share cordial relationship with Oman and would like to strengthen it further by intensifying cooperation in social, political, trade, manpower, defence and security issues. Our current trade volume with Oman stands at US$400mn and we hope to increase it by securing more long-term collaborations in various sectors\u201d Sartaj Aziz said.
\nThis is the first high-profile bilateral visit from Pakistan to Oman in ten years.
\nAziz said that the country has suffered from terrorism in the past which left its economy crippled. But the situation has improved. \u201dTerror attacks have gone down by almost 70 per cent.
\nWe have been successful in breaking major terrorism networks and have turned the corner. A lot of work is being done to combat terrorism. Our growth rate fell to three per cent in the previous years as a consequence of terrorism in the country. This year the numbers have climbed to 4.7 per cent and we hope to take it till about 5 per cent in the next year. The faith in the economy is restored.\u201d
\nAziz will be meeting a number of Omani officials and will also attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Pakistan embassy at the Diplomatic Enclave Muscat. The budget for the embassy, US$5mn, has been approved by the Pakistani government. The embassy is expected to be completed within two years.
\nAziz said there are close to 250,000 Pakistanis in Oman and they remit US$820mn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Muscat: Pakistan is eyeing to be the gateway to Oman and China as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) gains momentum, said Sartaj Aziz, advisor to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Foreign Affairs in Muscat. Aziz who is on a two-day bilateral visit to Oman, was addressing the Pakistani community in Oman at Pakistan School Muscat. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lead-cpec","8":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n