DNA

LAHORE, NOV 13 – The Center for Chinese Legal Studies (CCLS) at the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, LUMS in collaboration with the Pakistan-China Institute organised a virtual conference on ‘Poverty Alleviation, Covid-19 and CPEC – Connecting the Dots’.

Experts for the panel discussion includedDr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation; Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee in Senate of Pakistan; Mr. Masood Khalid, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to China; Professor Xia Qingjie, Peking University, China;Dr.Vaqar Ahmed, Executive Director, SDPI; and Professor Uzair J. Kayani, Faculty, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, LUMS.

The moderator, Professor Sikander Ahmed Shah, Director, CCLS, engaged the panel in an insightful conversation on Pakistan’s existing Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the impact of COVID-19 on Pakistan’s deteriorating income poverty, and CPEC’s role vis-à-vis alleviating poverty in the country. The conference also explored the Poverty Alleviation Strategy of China in an attempt to understand how Pakistan may learn from and employ China’s best practices.

Professor Sikander Ahmad Shah, Director CCLS, and Prof. Uzair Kayani, Faculty of Law, at LUMS also extended their pro bono support to Dr. Sania Nishtar on all matters of policy making pertaining to poverty reduction, relief and alleviation, in their collective pursuit to establish a welfare system in Pakistan.

Mr. Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director, PCI, presented his closing remarks for the conference and urged the audience to also focus their energies on the small and medium enterprises that enhance the vocational potential of our country.

The conference received an active and warm feedback from the participants and served as a constructive discourse of Pakistan in its effort towards welfare reform, strong institutional governance and fighting the poverty trap.