ISLAMABAD – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former Foreign Minister, has lauded China's Global Governance Initiative as a timely and crucial effort to address mounting international challenges. He also expressed strong optimism for the socio-economic benefits of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

His comments were made in a recent interview with CGTN, following the successful visit of Pakistan's Prime Minister to China.

Speaking on the Global Governance Initiative, Bhutto Zardari emphasized its significance in the current global climate. “I think it's particularly important given the challenges that the international community are facing today,” he stated. He advocated for the “promotion of international law [and] of following a rules-based order of multilateralism and cooperation” as the only way to meet modern governance challenges, from climate change and terrorism to global pandemics.

“In the modern day, no country is an island... So I believe that this new initiative has come at exactly the right time,” he added. “It is China that brings this stable hand by advocating for multilateralism in a rules-based order.”

The discussion also covered the outcomes of the recent high-level visit, which resulted in an action plan to build a closer community of shared future. Bhutto Zardari described the visit's outcomes as "very substantial," noting that the plan paves the way for CPEC's second phase.

He highlighted a particular interest in technology transfer, drawing on a Chinese proverb. “We hope to benefit from this new action plan and learn to fish when it comes to the modern technologies that China is incorporating,” he said, referring to advancements in AI and the IT sector.

When asked about the key priorities for CPEC's Phase-II, which moves beyond the first phase's focus on infrastructure and energy, the PPP Chairman outlined several sectors.

“We want to see work in industrialization, in the modernization of agriculture, in the IT and tech realms... and also in green energy, solar energy, wind energy,” he detailed. He also pointed to cooperation in the electric vehicle industry as a new domain of partnership.

Bhutto Zardari concluded that the ultimate goal of this new phase is to ensure more significant socio-economic development within Pakistan, allowing both the Pakistani and Chinese people to reap the full benefits of the corridor.

Source: The full interview can be viewed on CGTN's website.