ISLAMABAD (PEN) : Pakistan has welcomed the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong, praising it as a significant milestone in promoting peaceful dispute resolution on a global scale. Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi, highlighted Hong Kong’s long-standing expertise in commercial arbitration and its strategic global connectivity as key factors making the city an ideal hub for mediation services.
Transformational Initiative Rooted in Asian Values
At the signing ceremony held in Hong Kong, 33 countries, including Pakistan, became founding members of the new mediation body. Ambassador Hashmi described the launch as a “transformational project” grounded in Asian wisdom and Chinese principles of harmony and unity.
“Disagreements and disputes are inevitable, but it is also possible to craft ways and means of conciliation, mediation, to resolve them,” Hashmi said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.
He emphasized the core value of the organization as fostering harmony by bringing parties together, stating, “At the core of things, it is harmony — bringing people together… At the end of the day, we are one family.”
Unique Role in Global Dispute Resolution
The International Organization for Mediation offers a distinctive platform providing mediation services not only between states but also between governments and commercial entities. This fills a critical gap in the current global dispute resolution framework.
“The United Nations possesses a mandate for conciliation, mediation, and the provision of good offices, as primarily outlined in Article 33 of the UN Charter,” Hashmi noted. “But the international community backed a full-fledged organization” equipped with the tools to facilitate comprehensive mediation efforts.
The organization’s capacity to pool resources for resolving trade and commercial disputes further enhances its significance as a complement to existing mechanisms.
Opportunities for Collaboration under Belt and Road Initiative
Ambassador Hashmi praised the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a dynamic growth engine, particularly for its connectivity and innovation. He highlighted potential areas of collaboration between Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and Pakistan within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), especially in the digital economy, green technologies, and agriculture.
“Pakistan’s young population with English language skills and IT knowledge is seen as complementing the Greater Bay Area’s resources in finance, technology, and management practices,” Hashmi said.
CPEC Expansion and Regional Prosperity
Reflecting on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), now in its second decade, Pakistani leaders remain optimistic about its expansion into Afghanistan, offering new economic opportunities to the region.
Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, recently highlighted CPEC’s success in modernizing Pakistan’s energy and infrastructure sectors and boosting regional connectivity, attracting growing interest from Central Asian and Eastern European countries.
“Going forward, sky is the limit,” Hashmi stated, underscoring CPEC’s promising future.
