Chinese Economic and Commercial Counsellor Wang Zhuhai was chief guest on the occasion. Lieutenant General Muhammad Asghar (retd), Executive Director HEC, Li Zhihuai, General Manager CRBC, diplomats, dignitaries, and HEC's senior management graced the occasion along with the selected scholars.
Zhihuai highlighted the important role of the CRBC in carrying out development work in Pakistan. He said that the CRBC is one of the state-owned companies in China. He added that the company mainly participated in the highway projects in Sindh and successively completed 4A project in Sindh and Sukkur bypass project. He also highlighted the role of the CRBC in Raikot-Khunjerab Section Project. Till now, he informed, the CRBC has completed the improvement and realignment of Karakoram Highway at Attabad Lake Project. Zhuhai congratulated the Pakistani scholars proceeding to study in a top-ranked Chinese university. He stressed the need for promoting people-to-people exchange programme between China and Pakistan through initiatives like the HEC-CRBC Scholarship Programme. He said that human resource cooperation between the two countries is vital to enhance the bilateral relations. He affirmed that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will further cement the relations, adding that the project has entered a new phase as a large number of Chinese companies are investing in the project.
In his remarks, the executive director termed the award of scholarships a good opportunity for the scholars to not only acquire education but also to learn Chinese culture and traditions. He advised the students not to limit the scope of their education to a degree and expand their canvas to learning about the vast spectrum of engineering, covering logistics, infrastructure and impact.