CPEC means Pakistan’s entry into global supply chain: minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal minister for planning, development and reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) meant Pakistan's entry into the global supply chain.

He stated this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of first Pakistan-China Forum on Higher Education, held at the Air University, organised by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and China Association of Higher Education.

The one-day forum on "Challenges of Equitable Access and Quality in Higher Education" was addressed by eminent speakers from the higher education bodies of the two countries and attended by faculty and students from the universities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The minister appreciated the efforts of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for building CPEC University Alliance and CPEC Consortium of Business Schools. "These efforts will help build collaborative linkages and intellectual connectivity which symbolise the spirit of CPEC," he added.

He welcomed the Chinese scholars to Pakistan who he hoped would explore new avenues of mutual cooperation between the two countries. “The government was fully supporting higher education commission which aimed at capacity building of existing Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to prepare suitable human resource for CPEC and promote cultural harmony between the two countries.”  Earlier, in his welcome address, HEC executive director Dr Arshad Ali thanked the minister for his wholehearted support for higher education, which he said was not a goal but a pre-requisite in a knowledge-based economy.

The Forum focused on three areas, including national role and contribution in improving quality of higher education; ensuring quality with large-scale increase in access and balancing quality of higher education in diverse regions. The leader of the Chinese delegation, Xiaomei Wang, highlighted the need for greater cooperation between the academia of the two countries.