China, Pakistan to ink significant agreements under CPEC projects during caretaker PM Kakar's Beijing visit
Anwaarul Haq Kakar's four-day visit to Beijing starting Monday, according to a media report on Sunday. The agreements would be signed under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, Dawn newspaper reported.
Kakar would travel to Beijing on October 16 to participate in the 'Third Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation' from October 17 to 18.
«The prime minister will attend the opening ceremony of the BRF and address the high-level forum entitled 'Connectivity in an Open Global Economy',» the PM office said in a post on X on Saturday.
A significant Memorandum of Understanding scheduled to be signed is related to the establishment of a modern Highway Research and Training Centre (HRTC) with China's assistance, the paper said.
The project will prominently take centre stage during the prime minister's discussion with the Chinese authorities, it added.
HRTC is a subsidiary of the National Highway Authority (NHA) for carrying out indigenous research in various faculties of highway engineering not limited to pavements, bridges, tunnelling environmental engineering, hydraulics and Geotech, but also covering technical training.
An NHA official said the HRTC is also affiliated with various engineering institutes in research, especially in pavements, including the National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
The highway authority has also proposed the Tunnelling Institute of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to become an associate in research in tunnelling.
Under the ambit of CPEC, there is a promising joint research programme envisioned with the government of China from 2023 to 2027, which aims to foster collaboration and innovation in various domains of highway
