Secretary General of the SCO, H.E. Zhang Ming called on the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari to discuss SCO’s future Regional Cooperation and Facilitation of Multimodal Transportation in his office today. The Honorable Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari held a meeting with the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in his office today to discuss the future regional cooperation and facilitation of multimodal transportation to the member states of SCO. The meeting was attended by the Delegation of the SCO Secretariat including, the Secretary General, Mr. Zhang Ming, Expert of 1st category of the SCO Secretariat – Li Shuang, Expert of the 2nd category of the SCO Secretariat – Fan Yingchuan, Official of the Secretariat, Ms. Shaochen, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Mr. Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari, Federal Secretray for Maritme Affairs, Mr. Mathar Niaz Rana, Additional Secretary of Maritime Affairs, Mr. Asad Rafi Chandna and Chairman Port Qasim Authority, , Rear Admiral (R) Syed Hasan Nasir Shah HI(M). The Minister for Maritime Affairs welcomed the Secretary General to his office and acknowledged the importance of the role of SCO in bringing avenues for cooperation and development for the region and especially for Pakistan. The Minister also appreciated the facilitation of the entire transport agenda and its benefits to the economy of Pakistan. He further showed his eagerness to have more and more opportunities in future for the regional cooperation and connectivity. The Secretary General of the SCO, H.E. Zhang Ming apprised the Minister about his first visit to Pakistan after assuming charge of Secretary General. He acknowledged that Pakistan has geo-strategically very significant position for the region and SCO has strong intention for stronger connectivity, cooperation and development of the organization. He further stressed on the concept for Cooperation of the SCO Member States in developing connectivity and creating efficient Transport Corridor with the purpose to create a network of international transport corridors in the SCO space, develop international multimodal transportation, rail transport, conducive environment for road transport, and enhancement of professional competence. He further stressed that Pakistan can be a strong beneficiary from stronger connectivity of transportation from SCO Moreover, he highlighted the inter-regional security and the need to strengthen the security cooperation for which assistance of Pakistan is required to help creating political stability and peace in neighboring state of Afghanistan. The Federal Secretary for Maritime Affairs, Mr. Mathar Niaz Rana also shared his views and acknowledged that Afghanistan is crucial for the overall security of the region and Pakistan is working for the better cooperation with the SCO. The Secretary also highlighted that the Ministry is going to start cross-stuffing of containers in the coming August that will bring new possibilities of regional transport. Moreover, he suggested to have more focused interactions in future. The Chairman Port Qasim Authority, Rear Admiral (R) Syed Hasan Nasir Shah HI(M) also presented his views in front of the Secretary General. He acknowledged that just like European Cooperation, SCO is a platform of likeminded participants that are working for the progress and development of the overall region. He stressed on enhancing standardization, professional competence, shared training for maritime trade and logistics for long-term progression that was appreciated by the Secretary General. In his closing remarks, the Secretary General of the SCO appreciated the interactive session and reiterated that the multimode transportation would benefit all members of the SCO. He stated that SCO platform is built to provide enabling environment to its members in which regional security plays significantly important role. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to each other and exchange of souvenirs.
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