Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

The Government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) during the Investment conference in Dubai has signed $8 billion worth 44 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with a number of UAE based firms as well as Egypt, Malaysia, Lebanon and others.

The MoUs signed in the presence of Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Provincial Minister for Finance, Shoukat Yousufzai, minister for culture, Ziaullah Bangash, member provincial assembly, Abdul Karim Khan, special advisor on industries for Chief Minister, Afzal Mehmood, Pakistan Ambassador in UAE, Additional chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Amir Tareen Sultan, secretary Tourism Department and others attended the conference.

“The KP government has presented its number of projects during the Expo 2020 Dubai and successfully attracted international investors and today we are glad to see the translation of our efforts and signed 44 MoUs with a number of international firms,” he said while addressing the gathering of investment conference held at Dusit Thani hotel in Dubai.

The various MoUs were singed in the sectors of integrated tourism, water sports, industries, energy and power, infrastructure, food processing, livestock and others.

“We have a number of tourism opportunities in the province and promoting the provincial projects we have devised one-window operation to benefit the investors and will support these investors throughout their journey,” he said.

He also highlighted that the KP is the only provincial government in the country that has completed infrastructure projects within its own funds while hydropower projects are underway to made the life easier for common man and also businesses will linked to central Asian markets besides creating jobs for people.

Afzal Mehmood, Pakistan Ambassador in UAE highlighted the role of Gwadar port and said that it will be beneficial like Jebel Ali Port and both ports are important for their own geographical regions. “The Jebel Ali Port is hub for Middle East countries while Gwadar Port is going to support Central Asian countries and we are working on special freight line between the two ports,” he said.

He also vowed to full support for provincial governments to showcase their projects in the Expo 2020 Dubai and termed the Pakistan Pavilion in top ten attractive pavilions in the global exhibition.

However, at Expo Dubai 2020’s Nexus, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar spoke at a high-level global event, “A Decade of Action: Driving Progress for the 2030 Agenda.”

Co-curated by Expo 2020 and the United Nations, the event marked the beginning of Global Goals Week. Top leadership from countries and organizations working on the SDGs came together for solutions-focused discussions around four ‘anchor’ areas – Climate Change and Energy, Food Systems, Gender Equality and Human Capital.

This event was co-hosted by Deputy Secretary General. Amina J. Mohammed and the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and Director General of the Expo 2020, Reem Al Hashmy.

This high-level invitation only event brought together 30 global leaders to discuss how in the spirit of the Decade of Action, the international community could drive action towards the successful fulfilment of the SDGs.

Highlighting, the experience of Ehsaas programme, and Pakistan’s approach to human capital development she urged to invest more in technology and data to improve the delivery of human capital services.

The event aimed to inspire a renewed sense of global commitment; reinforce the importance of partnerships and identify opportunities for transformative collaborations to deliver solutions at scale; and to discuss and share opportunities and lessons from national, regional, and global levels—to drive the acceleration of necessary actions across policy, communications, advocacy and funding, among others.

Participants explored evolving challenges and opportunities, discussed key trends and innovations, and elaborated concrete advocacy, policy, action, and funding solutions to overcome obstacles to strengthening and upscaling human capital.