Ahsan Proposes 10,000 PhD Scholarships Under CPEC-II

News Desk

Islamabad: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal has proposed 10,000 joint PhD scholarships in artificial intelligence, engineering, and emerging sciences at China’s top universities under CPEC Phase-II, stressing the need to equip Pakistan’s youth for knowledge-driven growth.

Briefing the media after the 14th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of CPEC, televised from Beijing on Saturday, he said, “We have proposed that over the next 10 years, 10,000 Pakistani students be trained in China’s top 50 universities in artificial intelligence, emerging sciences, engineering, and new technologies so Pakistan can build a strong technology and innovation-based economy.”

He said this “knowledge corridor” would help Pakistan develop top-quality human resources and transform into a $3 trillion economy by 2047. “The next two decades belong to the youth of Pakistan, and we are committed to invest in their education and skills so they can lead the country’s economic transformation,” he added.

Ahsan noted that cooperation with China would also expand in vocational and technical training to prepare Pakistan’s workforce for modern technologies. He emphasized that exports, the “engine of growth,” remained Pakistan’s weakest area, with the country’s share in China’s $2 trillion imports standing at only $3 billion. He urged tariff treatment for Pakistani products on par with ASEAN countries.

Both sides also discussed establishing joint labs in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, launching a CPEC Future Skills program in IT, robotics, fintech, and biotechnology, and aligning Phase-II with Pakistan’s “5Es Framework” under the Uraan Pakistan roadmap, which targets a $1 trillion economy by 2035.

The minister said CPEC’s second phase would focus on five corridors: growth, livelihood, innovation, green energy, and regional connectivity. These, he explained, would boost jobs, uplift underdeveloped areas, build innovation hubs, promote climate resilience, and expand multi-modal transport links with Afghanistan and Central Asia.

On infrastructure, he announced immediate work on the Karakoram Highway Phase-II realignment—required due to the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project—and plans for a mineral corridor in Balochistan linking Gwadar with northern reserves. Dedicated facilitation desks, he added, had been set up to encourage Chinese enterprises as cooperation shifts from government-to-government to business-to-business.

Reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to Chinese nationals’ safety, Ahsan said: “Chinese citizens in Pakistan are our family. We will protect them with the same care as our own people. Isolated incidents are the work of foreign-sponsored elements, but together we will defeat such designs.”

He described Pakistan-China relations as “unbreakable and solid like iron” and said CPEC Phase-II would deliver transformational impact by modernizing agriculture, expanding industrial cooperation, fostering technology partnerships, and deepening cultural and educational exchanges.

“The first decade of CPEC transformed Pakistan’s infrastructure. The next decade will transform the lives of our people,” the minister concluded.