Islamabad/Dubai: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that "gone are the days" when officials from cash-strapped Pakistan will visit brotherly countries with "begging bowls" to tide over its economic woes.
Prime Minister Sharif made these remarks during a day-long visit to the UAE.
Pakistan and the UAE have long-standing fraternal relations deep rooted in religio-cultural affinity. Frequent high-level exchanges form a distinguishing feature of brotherly ties between the two countries.
"Gone are the days that I will go to our brotherly countries with begging bowls. I have broken that bowl", Sharif said during a session in Abu Dhabi, the Gulf state's capital, Geo News quoted Sharif as saying.
Addressing UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who was not present at the event, said: "My dear brother, like your great father you have supported Pakistan like a family member like a brother". "But today", he said, "I am here in this great country, this brotherly great country not to seek loans but to seek joint collaborations, seek joint investments", he said.
The prime minister, whose government came into power in March, said these collaborations would have mutual benefits for the investors and dividends would be drawn through hard work, ingenuity, and modern tools and skills.
Stressing the need to promote IT skills to empower youth, which is 60 per cent of Pakistan's population, the prime minister commended the collaboration between the UAE and Pakistani companies to promote digitisation of the economy and expressed the desire to replicate this in Pakistan.
He expressed the commitment to provide the highest quality vocational training with modern skills so that they can come to the UAE by fulfilling legal formalities.
The premier expressed an iron resolve of his government to completely transform Pakistan's economy through collaboration, joint ventures, and knowledge-sharing partnerships with the UAE.
The PM said his government is fully focusing on how to promote information technology and artificial intelligence in various sectors of Pakistan's economy, including agriculture, mines and minerals, and industry to enhance exports.
In 2023, the UAE agreed to extend a USD 2 billion loan to Pakistan and provide an additional USD 1 billion when the country was struggling to recover from devastating floods.
Pakistan has also received aid from China, its "all-weather" ally, to tide over its financial woes.