PM Shehbaz Sharif meets Bill Gates in New York
The prime minister thanked the Gates Foundation for its support and invited Bill Gates to visit Pakistan soon.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Bill Gates, the chairman of the Gates Foundation, in New York, Express News reported on Wednesday. The meeting, which took place during Sharif's visit to New York, focused on Pakistan's campaign to eradicate polio and on broadening cooperation between the government and the foundation in health, agriculture, and digital technology.
The prime minister thanked the foundation for its long-standing support for Pakistan's polio eradication drive and referred to a visit by a Gates Foundation team to Pakistan earlier this month. He appreciated the foundation's work with Pakistan in polio eradication, maternal and child health, nutrition, immunisation, digitisation, and financial inclusion.
Sharif said the government remained firmly committed to wiping out polio from Pakistan and described the goal as a personal priority. Bill Gates praised the prime minister's leadership and the personal guidance he had given to provincial governments on the nationwide polio vaccination programme. Gates said complete eradication of the disease was extremely important to protect future generations from what he called a deadly disease, according to the Express News report.
The prime minister described the Gates Foundation as a trusted partner in Pakistan's socio-economic development and expressed interest in deepening cooperation in public health, agriculture, digital innovation, and artificial intelligence.
Sharif also briefed Gates on the government's agricultural reforms, which he said were centred on innovation, biotechnology, climate resilience, research, and improving the capacity of farmers.
According to Express News, the two leaders agreed to explore cooperation in producing better seeds, improving the genetics of livestock, and developing emerging agricultural technologies. They also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen and expand the partnership for Pakistan's sustainable development, technological advancement, and progress in social sectors.
At the end of the meeting, Sharif recalled Gates's earlier visit to Pakistan and invited him to visit the country again soon. No timeline for the proposed visit was mentioned. The meeting underlined the continuing partnership between Pakistan and the Gates Foundation.
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