Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called upon the governments to strengthen climate financing and technology sharing, besides urging private investors to explore Pakistan’s untapped green energy and infrastructure opportunities.

Addressing the World Governments Summit, the prime minister stressed upon multilateral institutes to support the emerging economies like Pakistan in achieving the sustainable economic growth. 

He said the global shift to a green economy required a shared responsibility, while Pakistan was fully committed to mobilizing its domestic resources and policy reforms, the international partnership and financial support remained critical to achieving this goal. “Pakistan’s energy transition alone demands $100 billion investment,” he added. 

Despite huge challenges, the prime minister said, placing their economy on sound footing had been the central plank of what they had achieved in Pakistan in the last one year. 

“Pakistan stands at the defining moment of economic transformation. The headline inflation has dropped to 2.4 percent, in January this year, the lowest in the last nine years with interest rate capped at 12 percent,” he added. 

As a major stimulus for the private sector credit, he said economic stability remained not an end to their five Es; national economic transformation plan, Uraan Pakistan was driving this change, focusing on exports, E-Pakistan environment and climate change, energy and infrastructure, equity and empowerment. 

At the core of this agenda was energy security and sustainability not just as economic necessity but as a national priority. Pakistan was committed to producing 60 percent of clean energy mix by 2030 and converting 30 percent of all its vehicles into electric mobility, he added. 

He said that Pakistani nation in the last seventy decades had navigated through immense challenges, while remaining steadfast in its commitment, resilience and global cooperation. 

The prime minister said they were rapidly scaling up solar, wind and nuclear energy generation. Pakistan’s southern region held 50,000 MW of untapped wind energy potential while the northern hydro projects would add 30,000 MW of clean energy capacity, he informed. 

“Solar energy adoption has been accelerated through policy reforms, tax exemption and incentive for investments, net metering and waving of custom duties on solar panels and other equipment,” he added. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif further said that Pakistan offered one of the most dynamic investment landscape in Asia with 70 percent of its young and dynamic and tech savvy youth under the age of 30 and the strategic location Pakistan is placed at, bridges south and central Asia and its emerging middle class represents promising economic opportunities. 

They were also simplifying business regulations, enhancing legal protection and streamlining approval mechanism to make Pakistan a leading destination for global capitals, he added. 

To drive investment in key sectors of the economy, the prime minister said the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was established, focusing on renewable energy and resilient infrastructure, technology and digital economy, minerals and industrial development, agriculture and food security. “Pakistan is embracing eco-friendly agriculture innovation under the umbrella of adaptation policy of 2023 to enhance productivity and ensure food security and strengthen our rural economy,” he highlighted. 

The prime minister said besides, they were also enhancing water efficiency through drip irrigation, modern farming, drought resistance crops and water storage to restore the depleting aqua reserves. 

The government was also incentivizing agri-innovation by deploying solar-powered systems, using solar power energy for farm operations, climate-smart sensors to monitor soil and weather conditions to modernize the farming system, while reducing their environmental footprints, he added. 

The prime minister said a total of 1,000 Pakistani young agriculture graduates were being sent to China for training in modern advancement in the agriculture techniques. 

While they pursued growth targets, the underlying priorities centered around uplifting communities, creating equitable opportunities and building a prosperous future for their people, he underscored. 

The prime minister said “Pakistan stands at the threshold of new era that one prioritized infrastructure advancements, economic diversification and human development. The future is not something we passively inherited; rather it is something we actively shaped. Let this summit, herald a dawn of the global peace, sustainable and prosperous future for all.” 

Comment on Gaza situation

Referring to Gaza situation, he said this gathering was being held at a time when the region began to recover from the tumultuous aftershocks of the tragic conflict in Gaza which claimed over 50,000 innocent Palestinian, adding it was hoped that the genocidal drive would be followed by the lasting peace. 

However, he reiterated that Pakistan believed that a durable peace was only possible through two-state solution in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions that was the creation of an independent Palestine state, with pre-1967 borders and Al Quds as its Capital. 

The prime minister also expressed his deep admiration for the UAE leadership for hosting the summit, adding “Dubai is a city where the future meets with the present” as the city had become a hub of global economy, commerce and technology, with innovative transformation.