Sindh Chief Minister meets Mayor of Shanghai, proposal to make Karachi sister city

In meeting both leaders agreed to strengthen economic and investment ties

Karachi: Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has met Mayor of Shanghai, in which he has proposed to make Karachi sister city.

Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah met Mayor of Shanghai Zhu Zhongming, in which agreement was made to strengthen economic and investment ties. In meeting Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Bakhsh Mehr, Special Assistant Qasim Naveed and Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab also participated.

During meeting discussion was held on increasing direct contacts between businesses and institutional cooperation.

On this occasion Chief Minister Sindh proposed to establish formal sister city partnership between Karachi and Shanghai so that cooperation in urban planning, transport, technology and infrastructure between two port cities can be increased.

Murad Ali Shah said that important projects of KCR and technology infrastructure are underway in Karachi. Shanghai should share its experience in smart city planning with Karachi. He expressed desire to benefit from Shanghai's experience in digital services and public transport, on which Mayor of Shanghai welcomed proposed cooperation.

During this visit Chief Minister Sindh also visited Huawei's world's largest research and development center 'Lianqiu Lake' in Shanghai, which is spread over 1600 acres and where investment of more than 10 billion yuan has been made. During briefing he was told that research is ongoing here on chips, 5G, 6G, AI and cloud computing.

Chief Minister Sindh expressed desire for technology partnership with Huawei saying that this cooperation should not be limited to purchase of goods only but should include joint ventures and technology transfer. He also invited Huawei to establish R&D laboratory and research facilities in Karachi Education City.

Murad Ali Shah said that Sindh government is working on provincial e-portal and digital transformation, under which Huawei's cooperation is required in cloud infrastructure, data centers and cyber security. There is large number of young IT experts in Sindh and province wants to promote local capabilities instead of importing technology.

He offered Huawei to work on pilot projects with universities and technology institutions of Sindh and create new opportunities for youth so that digital services can be improved through smart city projects.

According to spokesperson, purpose of these contacts of Chief Minister Sindh is to make Sindh technology hub through partnership with China.