{"id":8561,"date":"2026-08-05T20:22:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=8561"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:22:55","slug":"pm-shehbaz-seeks-stronger-jica-partnership-in-minerals-skills-and-sme-sectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2026\/08\/05\/pm-shehbaz-seeks-stronger-jica-partnership-in-minerals-skills-and-sme-sectors","title":{"rendered":"PM Shehbaz seeks stronger JICA partnership in minerals, skills and SME sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Islamabad :<\/strong> Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to unlocking Pakistan\u2019s mineral wealth, welcoming the Japan International Cooperation Agency\u2019s (JICA) technical support as a valuable contribution to the sector\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

The prime minister expressed these views during a meeting with a nine-member JICA delegation led by the agency\u2019s President, Dr Tanaka Akihiko, at the Prime Minister\u2019s House.<\/p>\n

Highlighting the longstanding friendship between Pakistan and Japan, PM Shehbaz said the two countries have enjoyed strong and productive relations for more than 70 years. He expressed confidence that Dr Tanaka\u2019s visit would further strengthen bilateral cooperation and open new avenues for partnership.<\/p>\n

The premier said Pakistan had overcome significant economic challenges through coordinated national efforts and was now pursuing comprehensive structural reforms to ensure sustainable economic growth and long-term financial stability.<\/p>\n

He noted that the country\u2019s tax revenues had doubled over the past three years, describing the achievement as evidence of the government\u2019s reform-driven economic policies.<\/p>\n

Shehbaz Sharif said the government remains focused on preparing young people for future opportunities through modern education and skills training, expanding technical and vocational programmes, generating quality employment and promoting women\u2019s economic participation.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), the prime minister said the organisation had been restructured into a more effective institution capable of supporting entrepreneurs and boosting the growth of small and medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n

He added that closer collaboration between JICA and SMEDA would help strengthen the SME sector and enhance Pakistan\u2019s export capacity.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, the prime minister also conveyed his condolences to Dr Tanaka over the recent earthquake in Japan that claimed many lives.<\/p>\n

Dr Tanaka thanked PM Shehbaz for his message of sympathy and praised the longstanding partnership between Pakistan and JICA. He said the agency intends to expand cooperation with Pakistan in key sectors, including healthcare, education, urban and rural development, technical and vocational training, and industrial development.<\/p>\n

The JICA president added that the agency\u2019s future initiatives would be aligned with the priorities identified by Pakistan\u2019s federal and provincial governments to maximise development outcomes.<\/p>\n

He also acknowledged Pakistan\u2019s constructive role in promoting peace in the Middle East, saying Japan and the broader international community recognise and appreciate Islamabad\u2019s diplomatic efforts in the region.<\/p>\n

The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Dr Musadik Masood Malik, Hanif Abbasi, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari and Shaza Fatima Khawaja, along with Special Assistants to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi and Haroon Akhtar, as well as senior government officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad : Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to unlocking Pakistan\u2019s mineral wealth, welcoming the Japan International Cooperation Agency\u2019s (JICA) technical support as a valuable contribution to the sector\u2019s development. The prime minister expressed these views during a meeting with a nine-member JICA delegation led by the agency\u2019s President, Dr Tanaka …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":8562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[160,2294],"class_list":["post-8561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-headline","tag-youdigital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8563,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561\/revisions\/8563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}