KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in his separate meetings with diplomats of Qatar, Iran and Kazakhstan on Thursday emphasized on the need of developing close cooperation and coordination between the neighboring countries so that peace, tranquility, trade and commerce could be promoted in the region, particularly in the on-going situation in Afghanistan.
Qatar: The chief minister, in his meeting with the Ambassador of Qatar Sheikh Saoud Abdul Rehman Al Thani, Ambassador of the State of Qatar said that a Qatari company was working on a water supply scheme at Thar. “We want to see more Qatari companies come over and work with the provincial government on their own or on PPP mode,” he said and added that Sindh has vast opportunities in desalination plants in the city, road, energy, and various other sectors.
They also discussed the situation in the region in the post-American withdrawal from Afghanistan scenario. The ambassador was accompanied with Mishal Muhammad A.A Al-Ansari, Consul General State of Qatar.
Kazakhstan: The chief minister while discussing investment opportunities with the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Mr Yerzhan Kistafin said that the province of Sindh was producing 70 percent of natural gas. He added that the Sindh government has its own company which also participates in gas projects. “We would love to work with Kazakhstan state and private firms through their personal investment or on PPP-mode in gas-related projects.
The ambassador assured the chief minister that he would invite investors and experts of his country to invest in Sindh in different modes. The ambassador said that his country was launching a direct flight from Pakistan to Kazakhstan to facilitate the investors and tourists to travel between the two countries easily.
The chief minister and Kazakhstan Ambassador agreed to declare Karachi and a city of Kazakhstan as sister cities. It was also agreed to establish people-to-people contact by exchanging delegation between the two countries so that personal relationship, trade and cultural ties could be strengthened.
Iran: An eight-member delegation of Iran led by Ahmed Amir Abadi Farahani Chairman of Iran-Pakistan Friendship Group and Mr Hassan Nourian Consul General called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House. The group discussed investment opportunities in Sindh, regional situations and cooperation in education.
The chief minister said that he had visited Mashhad in 2019 and found it one of the cleanest cities of the world. “We would appreciate it if the Iranian firms working in solid waste management come over and work with the Sindh government to launch solid waste management projects in the province,” he said. At this the Iranian delegation assured the chief minister that they would start negotiations with the Sindh Investment department to explore opportunities for investment.
Shah said that in the past Persian has been the official language of Sindh. He suggested that a mechanism may be evolved to promote Persian in Sindh. They also discussed the regional security situation and empathized with the need to promote peace and tranquility in the region.
