Australian High Commissioner Tim George said on Thursday that it was very pleasing to see that Pakistan had sent a high-level delegation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which was currently underway in Perth, Australia.
“Pakistan is an important member of the Commonwealth and its strong delegation – headed by the prime minister, and including the foreign minister and commerce minister – will make an important contribution to the meeting,” George said, briefing the media at National Press Club.
The theme for CHOGM is “Building National Resilience, Building Global Resilience,” which aims to deliver strong outcomes in support of global economic recovery, trade, food security, action against climate change, mining for development and polio eradication.
In addition to attending official meetings, the high commissioner said Pakistani Foreign Minister Khar had hosted a successful session at the Commonwealth Business Forum, which involved several prominent Pakistani business executives as panellists and highlighted Pakistan’s investment potential.
George said, “Australia shares Pakistan’s wish to develop further the bilateral trade and investment relationship, where there is much potential.”
On the relationship between Australia and Pakistan, the high commissioner said, “Australia and Pakistan have long enjoyed friendly ties, and our engagement has grown very significant in recent years, particularly in the fields of development cooperation, defence training links, education, and collaboration in tackling trans-national crime.” George also noted the two countries’ strong people-to-people links, and their shared passion for sports and the arts.
Congratulating Pakistan on recently winning a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2012-13, he noted both Australia and Pakistan’s strong and longstanding commitment to the United Nations. On Australia’s own candidacy for a non-permanent UNSC seat for 2013-2014, George said Australia had much to contribute to the Security Council, “We bring creativity, energy and a practical problem-solving ethos, and Australia has already been integral to global efforts to build and restore peace”.
Australia has also demonstrated its commitment to helping developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals, partially through its aid program. He informed that Australia’s development assistance to Pakistan in 2011 and 2012 was A$ 92.8 million, with a focus on health, education and agriculture.
