Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (FE&PT) and China's Tang International Education Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to upgrade 20 vocational institutes in Karachi. This partnership aims to enhance infrastructure, establish IT and smart labs, and create Centers of Excellence across Pakistan, Gwadar Pro reported on Wednesday.

The MoU was signed here by Shafiq Hussain Khokhar, Director General Admin & Finance of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), and Song Jianying, Chairman & CEO of Tang International's Pakistan Subsidiary. The signing ceremony was overseen by Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister for FE&PT, and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong.

“Pakistan stands at a decisive moment,” said Dr. Siddiqui while addressing the ceremony. “With a youth population comprising nearly 65% of our total—around 150 to 180 million—we have both a profound challenge and a unique opportunity. Properly trained, our youth can not only uplift our own nation but also become a global skilled workforce.”

Highlighting the broader vision behind the initiative, Dr. Siddiqui added, “The friendship between China and Pakistan is exemplar, which is a sign of stability and prosperity for the region. To strengthen this bond further, educational and developmental goals must be achieved. We are focusing on massive training efforts across the country, especially in slum areas around major cities.”

Ambassador Jiang Zaidong discussed China’s experience and willingness to collaborate for the betterment of Pakistan’s youth. “The basic guidelines or principles of the human resources cooperation between China and Pakistan is to turn the population bonus into talent or skilled workforce bonus,” he stated. “Pakistan has a very good base because you have 240 to 250 million population and among which 64% of them are under 30-year-old, so that is very remarkable population bonus.”

Ambassador Jiang also shared insights into China’s approach to employment and vocational training. “China was actively promoting the employment through various ways, and about 50% of the undergraduates find satisfactory jobs upon graduation, which... is very high figure. The Chinese government, especially Ministry of Education and Ministry of Human Resources use various ways to raise that number and throughout this process China would like to share our good practices with Pakistan, so that we can create better conditions for the development of Pakistan’s youth through bilateral cooperation.”

Prior to the MoU signing, both the Chinese Ambassador and Minister Siddiqui visited a Job Fair 2025 organized at the Pak-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad, where more than 20 Chinese companies offered over 500 employment opportunities.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China