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THE Chief Executive Officer of JP Morgan Chase, one of the leading international banks has lauded the rapid economic development of Pakistan.
The CEO James Dimon made these remarks while talking to the news agency after a meeting with the visiting Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz in New York.
James Dimon said that Pakistan has made a rapid economic progress especially during the past five years. He recounted the contributions in this regard by Shaukat Aziz first as Finance Minister and now as Prime Minister. The CEO pointed out that Shaukat Aziz was doing a great job for Pakistan and its people.
He expressed optimism about further growth of Pakistan's economy mainly because of education of the people. James Dimon suggested that his organisation would expand its business in Pakistan saying that his organisation would do whatever it could to contribute towards the country's betterment.
Earlier, during the meeting he apprised the Prime Minister of his organisation's operations in Pakistan. He highly appreciated the progress that has been made by Pakistan during the past couple of years which brought it into international limelight. Now global investors are showing keen interest and looking towards Pakistan as a favourable investment destination.
Shaukat Aziz gave a brief overview of Pakistan's economy and stated that country's economy is growing at a rapid pace with a favourable micro economic environment.
He stated that the gains that Pakistan has made were the result of wide ranging structural reforms launched in many sectors of the economy, consistency and continuity and transparency in policies which paid rich dividends. The Prime Minister pointed out that Pakistan is actively pursuing its privatisation programme.
He further informed that 85 per cent of banking is in the private sector in Pakistan. Shaukat Aziz said we have made rapid progress but challenges are there and we have a roadmap to address these challenges.
In another dispatch from Beijing, the news agency noted that the Chinese government and people offered emergency humanitarian aid to the quake victims in Pakistan wholeheartedly.
Assistant Minister and spokesman of the Chinese Commerce Ministry Chen Jian made the remarks in Beijing last Thursday at a news conference.
Based on the understanding of injuries by the disaster to local people, China launched its quick- response mechanism of international disaster relief in time and implemented the donation promises it announced, he said.
During the aid process, the Chinese government took into account the concern of disaster- stricken people carefully, he said. For example, all tents provided by China for the earthquake-hit region of Pakistan were thick tents that could be used in winter, he said.
" China has limited funds, and the donation figures it announced cannot be comparable with those of other countries, but China's timely and whole-hearted humanitarian aid has won wide praise of disaster-hit governments and people, he said. China will continue to do so later, he added.
China is now negotiating with Pakistani authorities to provide $300 million soft-loan for undertaking rehabilitation projects in the quake-affected region. An official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the news agency that China is prepared to fulfil its financial commitment made at the international donors conference in Islamabad.
The concessional loan would be utilised for repairing and upgrading Karakoram Highway, the provision of health and educational facilities in Balakot in North West Frontier Province, and the establishment of a network of seismic stations throughout Pakistan.
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