CPEC, MEDCONG to help cement Pak-China ties: President Mamnoon

Karachi

The execution of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and cooperation between the countries in the field of medicine in the shape of Pak-China Medical Congress (MEDCONG) will further cement the already friendly ties between the neighbouring countries.

This was stated by President Mamnoon Hussain while addressing the MEDCONG on Saturday evening.

He said such collaboration between Pakistan and China will help open new avenues of development and enable the government to serve the nation in a better way.

Cooperation in the field of medicine will enhance further in the years ahead, as both countries benefit from each other’s professional resources in the discipline, leading to more collaborative work.

The president said terrorism and lawlessness had increased the number of people who were affected by psychological or physiological problems. “Developing economies like Pakistan confront a host of challenges that mostly affect the common man,” he said. He pointed out that quite a large number of Pakistani youth had gone to China in the recent years to acquire medical education. “But owing to some ‘technical reasons’ Pakistan could not benefit from their talents and abilities,” he said.“We need to find a practical solution to the problem.”

The president said treatments of a number of diseases were now available in Pakistan, for which the patients previously had had to travel abroad. However, he said, a number of rural and remote areas still lacked adequate medical facilities and the government was trying its best with the limited resources to overcome this deficiency. “For this we require help from all segments of the society,” he said. He expressed the hope that the Pakistan Medical Association will also make headway in this respect.

The president said Operation Zarb-e-Azb was progressing very smoothly and by the end of 2016, Pakistan will be free of terrorism.

He also said that those responsible for militancy in Karachi and other cities will be taken to task. “The operation in Karachi will reach its logical conclusion,” he said. “The very purpose of this operation is to restore peace in Karachi.”

The president also promised that power cuts will come to an end in the year 2018. He then ended his speech by thanking the doctors and medical experts who had come from China and SAARC countries, while congratulating the Pakistan Medical Association for organizing the Pak-China Medical Congress.  In a ceremony held later, he gave shields to the members of the Chinese delegation.