Murad discusses investment prospects, educational development with foreign diplomats

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Chinese Consul General Yang Yundong on Monday agreed to revive the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The CM also held separate meetings on Monday with Japanese Consul General Hattori Masaru, Turkish Consul General Cemal Sangu and Russian Consul General Andrey Fedorov at the Chief Minister House.

He told the foreign diplomats that the Sindh government was working to boost the industrial and agricultural sectors by bringing in foreign investment and offering different incentives to investors.

The consuls general congratulated Shah on his election as the Sindh chief minister for the third time and wished him success. Apart from discussing matters of mutual interest, they discussed investment and exchange of trade delegations to promote trade and commerce.

The CM and the Chinese consul general discussed CPEC projects, KCR and the agriculture sector. Shah informed the Chinese envoy that two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems were already operational in Karachi while another two BRT corridors were under construction. “The KCR would be the feeder of the BRT lines and with its construction, the transport issue would be resolved in this megalopolis city,” he said.

Yundong said the KCR was a priority project of the CPEC and it would be approved shortly. Shah said that during the last tenure of President Asif Ali Zardari, memorandums of understanding were signed for various agricultural projects. He added that the time had arrived to implement those agriculture projects under which scientific methods of agriculture would be adopted to improve the yield.

The CM and the Japanese consul general discussed investment in different sectors, including electronics and automobiles. In their meeting, it was decided that a meeting between the Sindh investment department and the Japanese consulate’s top officers would be organised shortly to select sectors for investment.

The Turkish consul general told the CM that Turkey wanted to expand its education system in the rural areas of Sindh. Currently, Turkish schools are operating in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas.

The CM said he would arrange a meeting of the Sindh education minister with the Turkish consul general to establish Turkish schools in rural areas. He added that President Zardari was interested in establishing a Sufi university at Bhit Shah and as Turkey had a strong Sufi culture, Turkish scholars could provide help in setting up Sufi universities.

To this, the Turkish diplomat assured the CM that he would arrange a delegation of Sufi scholars who would visit Sindh and discuss modalities of the Sufi university to mature the project. The Russian consul general in his meeting with the CM also discussed matters of mutual interest.