BEIJING (Internews): Pakistan-China Institute (PCI), the country’s preeminent think tank promoting ties with China, has become the first Pakistani Institution to sign MoU on Green Development with China. The MoU was signed in Beijing between the PCI and the Belt & Road Initiative Green Development Coalition (BRIGDC).
PCI signed the groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) on facilitating and promoting China-Pakistan cooperation on Environment and Climate Change, to support the Green and low-carbon development of the BRI. This is the first ever MoU on Green Development that BRIGC has signed with any Pakistani institution.
As per the agreement, both parties will work together in close coordination in promoting green and low-carbon cooperation between China and Pakistan through the Belt and Road Initiative, especially through the BRI International Green Development Coalition. This includes but not limited to conducting joint research on the deepening of China and Pakistan cooperation on green and low carbon development in the context of green BRI cooperation, co-organizing consultation workshops and joint research report launch events with key stakeholders and experts, supporting and participating in each other’s key studies or activities upon invitation, and developing high-level policy recommendations on supporting the green and low-carbon energy development, low-carbon transportation, and other strategic issues deemed necessary in Pakistan and other BRI partner countries.
From the Pakistan side, the MoU was signed by Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director of Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) and from the Chinese side, it was signed by Chen Gang, the Secretary General of BRIGC. The MoU signing was witnessed by Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Kharal, Minister of State for Climate Change of Pakistan and Zhao Yingmin, Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China. Speaking to the media, Mustafa Sayed termed the timing of the signing of the MoU as ‘significant as it comes on the eve of the big CoP-30 conference in Brazil next month and the MoU is also recognition of the key role being played by the Pakistan-China Institute to promote Green Development in Pakistan, particularly CPEC’. He added that ‘since CPEC is flagship of BRI, this initiative will be a big plus for Green Development of CPEC, especially now in its second phase’.
