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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan鈥檚 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday emphasized his government鈥檚 commitment to robust economic reforms and called for stronger international cooperation on climate resilience during talks on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh, underscoring Pakistan鈥檚 bid to attract investment and address environmental challenges.

Sharif was speaking at a high-level roundtable discussion titled, 鈥淚s Humanity Heading In The Right Direction鈥� on the FII sidelines, where he lauded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for organizing the summit, which he said symbolizes his leadership and vision to transform societies like he has done in 海角直播.

He said his government is currently undertaking 鈥渕ost robust changes and deep-rooted reforms,鈥� including the digitization of Pakistan鈥檚 tax collection authority and a crackdown on corruption with 鈥渇ull might,鈥� which are a need of the hour to put Pakistan on track of economic recovery after a prolonged meltdown.

鈥淲hile we are doing all this, we are in an agrarian economy. My friends, ladies and gentlemen sitting here, Pakistan, unfortunately, is included in that list of first 10 countries which are exposed to the vagaries of weather, climate change, and for no rhyme or reason, no fault of ours,鈥� he said.

鈥淥ur emission is less than a fraction of 1 percent and yet, in 2022, we faced devastating cloudbursts, floods and storms, and we lost in the process. Our economic losses, $130 billion. Large swathes of our land were underwater. Crops were destroyed. Millions of houses were destroyed.鈥�

While several countries pledged to fund climate-resilience initiatives in Pakistan after the 2022 floods, only a fraction of those pledges could be realized.

In May, Islamabad got a $1.4 billion climate resilience loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and became the first country in the Middle East and Central Asia region to access the lender鈥檚 Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) program.

Sharif lamented that they had to take loans to rebuild the areas which were devastated by 2022 floods, while deluges this year again submerged vast tracts of land, killed more than 1,000 people and displaced millions of others.

鈥淚t has to be mutual cooperation. If you think, if somebody thinks that countries like Pakistan who are devastated, loans would be enough, that is not acceptable. Loans over loans, your back will break and you will never be able to stand up,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f humanity has to move forward, it has to move forward in unison, share its bounties and grievances together, move forward and share modern technologies with those countries which can use those technologies and grow their production, whether it is agriculture, industry, etc. and employment.鈥�

The prime minister later held a meeting with the World Economic Forum (WEF) President and CEO B酶rge Brende in Riyadh. The meeting was held at the WEF leadership鈥檚 request in order to formally invite the prime minister to the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos in January next year, according to Sharif鈥檚 office.

The prime minister appreciated the ongoing robust engagement between Pakistan and the WEF and reaffirmed Pakistan鈥檚 readiness to deepen its ties with the forum鈥檚 global business and innovation network.

鈥淲hile exchanging views on Pakistan鈥檚 economy, the Prime Minister highlighted the government鈥檚 deep rooted structural economic reforms directed toward stabilization, fiscal discipline, investment, and digital transformation,鈥� Sharif鈥檚 office said, welcoming the WEF partnership on resilient food systems that are vital for Pakistan鈥檚 agrarian economy.

鈥淲EF President B酶rge Brende thanked the prime minister for Pakistan鈥檚 active engagement with WEF and said that he looked forward to continued support from Pakistan in advancing a mutually beneficial partnership.鈥�