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PM Shehbaz Sharif speaks during an event, related to Pakistani agriculture graduates' studies in China, held in Islamabad on April 16, 2025. — Screengrab via Geo News
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday supported Pakistan -China friendship and Beijing’s Islamabad to help secure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package, and said that it would not be possible without the help of the neighboring country.
Premier’s remarks-which were held during a ceremony held in connection with the Prime Minister’s move to construct the capabilities of 1,000 agriculture graduates in China-in the context of last month’s deal between Islamabad and the IMF, it had a 37-month-old bailout program on a 7-month-old bailout program.
Following the approval of the IMF’s Executive Board, Pakistan will have access to about $ 1 billion under the EFF, which will increase the overall payment under the program about $ 2 billion.
The lender will consider approval of about $ 2.3 billion over a six-week period, with expectations that Islamabad will be able to secure loan amount in the first week of May 2025 before the next budget of the fiscal year 2025-26.
The global lender also announced a new 28-month contract-the board’s approval pending, Pakistan can unlock $ 1.3 billion under a 28-month-long climate loan program.
In his speech today, the Prime Minister emphasized that China was a very sincere friend of Pakistan who always stood with him in difficult days.
Reintening his commitment to change the agriculture sector, Prime Minister Shahbaz called it necessary to achieve a sustainable economic growth and emphasized that strengthening the country’s agricultural backbone will help ensure millions of farmers, increase exports and improve livelihood.
Premier highlighted the urgent need for living and modernizing the country’s agricultural research institutes, saying, “We have to focus on the meaningful methods of farming, the management of digitalized crops, and the development of elastic seeds related to climate.”
It is appropriate to know that under the move, 300 selected graduates are being sent to China for a three -month training program during the first phase.
In the second phase, 400 graduates will undergo a six -month training program, followed by the remaining 300 graduates, which will take part in a three -month training program in the final phase.
Addressing the program, the Prime Minister congratulated 300 young graduates who were going to fly to China for agriculture techniques and equip themselves with knowledge. He hoped that upon his return to Pakistan, he would contribute to the agricultural economy.
Recalling the last visit to China, Prime Minister Shahbaz said that he was very impressed with the research work in various fields of agriculture during the visit to Chinese universities.
He remarked, “After that I decided to send a thousand young Pakistani Agri Graduates to take advantage of this great experience.”
Expressing regret that the first two attempts to send graduates to China failed due to the fact that the process of election was not dependent on the fact, saying that they wanted to choose the skills of youth which were the hopes of the nation.
The Prime Minister said, “In the first and second efforts, the overwhelming majority of the elected graduates were government officials who were more,” he added that he ordered the construction of an online portal to receive the applications to ensure that the election process was completed in a transparent manner.
He added, “Now I am happy to see that the whole process is being completed transparent and purely on Mart merit.”
He said that graduates from all over Pakistan including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit -Baltistan were included in the process while Balochistan’s quota was increased by 10 %.
He advised graduates to work hard during training in China and bring modern techniques and experiences to increase the production of crops, especially cotton and other cash crops.
The Prime Minister said that the government is planning to provide subsidy loans to the farmers so that they can start their business with the farmers with the aim of promoting the value of various fruits and vegetables.
Minister of National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz, the government is trying to increase the capacity of agriculture and cattle sectors.
He highlighted that the government is spending more than Rs 3 billion to provide knowledge and experience to China before China.
He expressed the hope that he would effectively implement his abilities and knowledge when he returned home.
China’s Pakistan Jiang Zaidong said he was very impressed with the performance of the Pakistan government last year, during which the country’s economic indicators had improved significantly.
He said that the Chinese government is ready to cooperate with Pakistan in promoting bilateral relations, especially in the agriculture sector.
He emphasized that President XI has always shown great importance with his relations with neighboring countries.
Under the China Pakistan Economic Transit (CPEC), he said that China has invested about $ 35.4 billion directly, which reflects strong relations between the two countries.
