President Arif Alvi has said the CPEC is a strategic project having economic, financial, logistics and connectivity value for Pakistan and China, regional and other countries of the world.

Talking to Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong in Islamabad, he said we welcome other countries to partner and benefit from this project.

Arif Alvi said the full operationalization of CPEC and the planned Special Economic Zones is an important milestone and urged the Chinese IT sector to invest in the SEZs and benefit from Pakistan's cost effective human resources, liberal investment regime, cyber data protection policy and tax incentives.

The President emphasized the need to fully operationalize road linkages between China and Gwadar Port in all weather conditions to fully utilize their capacity and achieve their fullest potential.

Arif Alvi Pakistan has taken tangible steps to ensure the safety and security of Chinese workers and nationals who are contributing to the development of various strategic projects.

He said Pakistan is learning from the steps taken by the Chinese leadership to bring millions of people out of poverty and provide health facilities at the grassroots level by adopting out of box solutions.

President Arif Alvi said the close cooperation between the two countries in marketing JF-17 aircraft in the world market would help in expediting the export of state of the art fighter aircraft and meet the security needs of the buying countries.

Arif Alvi said both the countries should explore options to use local currency for bilateral trade and investment.

The President encouraged the Chinese companies to set up their outlets and manufacturing plants for semiconductors in Pakistan.

The President appreciated the continuous financial and economic support by China and said it would help bring financial stability to the country.

The Chinese Ambassador, in his remarks, said the Chinese government is fully committed to completing CPEC as fast as possible, envisaging new projects and reaching out to the government to meet its immediate financial and economic needs.