President for global collaboration to ensure sustainable development

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the need for global cooperation and partnerships to address challenges such as climate change, poverty, and disinformation.

He called for promoting collaboration among countries to ensure inclusive and sustainable development.

The president gave these remarks while speaking to the participants of the 5th International Workshop for Leadership & Stability, organised by the National Defence University (NDU), who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday.

Currently, 64 foreign participants from friendly countries and 32 Pakistani participants from diverse sectors including business leaders, diplomats, government officials, representatives of think tanks, media, and young professionals are attending the workshop.

The NDU has been organising the workshop for parliamentarians, senior policy makers, diplomats, consultants and senior executives from worldwide.

Addressing the participants, the president said that Pakistan was the gateway to landlocked Central Asian countries, who were welcome to benefit from Gwadar port to promote shared development and prosperity. Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to regional connectivity and economic collaboration, he invited international partners to work together toward a secure and sustainable future. “A stable world is essential for shared progress.”

He said that the world faced a range of economic, environmental, security, disinformation and technological challenges, which required global cooperation to address them. Highlighting the role of leadership, the president said that it was the responsibility of leaders to create opportunities for collaboration and work for the betterment of people and shared peace and prosperity. He said that leadership had the responsibility to unite people around a shared vision and motivate stakeholders to achieve sustainable development goals.

He asked the participants to choose dialogue over division, cooperation over conflict, and hope over fear to create lasting change. He also encouraged participants to translate their insights from the workshop into real-world solutions.

The president congratulated the participants on completing the course and lauded NDU for organising the workshop, stating that such initiatives played a crucial role in shaping perspectives on leadership, governance, and stability.

Earlier, the president was briefed about the aims and objectives of the workshop. It was informed that the workshop provided a platform to share Pakistan’s perspective on diverse global issues and promote dialogue with the world.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025