by Zafar Hussain 

 

Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Moin ul Haque met Mr. Zhao Haozhi, Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Qingdao on Monday, to promote bilateral cooperation in the field of the blue economy, coastal tourism, and media cooperation.

 

During the meeting, both sides held detailed discussions on deepening bilateral cooperation in the areas of investment, trade, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. Welcoming the Ambassador to Qingdao, the Mayor briefed him about the increasing significance of Qingdao as the regional economic and trade hub.

 

The Mayor highlighted that as China’s all-weather strategic cooperative partner, the provincial government and private and state-owned enterprises of Qingdao accorded top priority to the deepening of trade and cultural linkages with Pakistan.

 

Zhao mentioned that this objective could be facilitated by existing sister-city ties between Qingdao and Karachi.

 

He said that Qingdao Area of the Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone, creating a new platform for international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

 

The Mayor briefed the ambassador that Qingdao and Pakistan have a good foundation for cooperation and hope to give full play to the role of the Pakistan (China) Economic Cooperation Center to further expand exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the fields of economy and trade, humanities, tourism, and culture.

 

Qingdao will also actively support Qingdao enterprises to invest in Pakistan development and strive to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, he mentioned .

 

The Mayor expressed hope that as Pakistan and China were commemorating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2021, bilateral linkages between Qingdao and Pakistan would increase manifold this year.

 

Thanking Mr. Zhao for a warm welcome and his kind sentiments for Pakistan, Ambassador Moin congratulated him on his recent appointment as the Mayor of Qingdao. The Ambassador expressed satisfaction at the growing ties between Pakistan and Qingdao in diverse fields of cooperation. 

 

He highlighted that besides existing cooperation, both sides could also cooperate in tourism because sustainable tourism can drive the blue economy.