Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday called for a "strong and vibrant" Pakistan-China economic partnership to promote comprehensive cooperation, especially in the field of nuclear power generation.

"The government and the people of Pakistan attach the highest importance to further strengthening our age-old ties of friendship and cooperation and to add greater content, substance and vigour to our strategic partnership," he said while inaugurating a three-day Pakistan China Energy Forum in Islamabad.

"The time has come to reinforce the traditional friendship with a strong and vibrant economic partnership," he told the forum.

It is the first meeting of the forum, which is taking place after the two countries signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation in Energy during President General Pervez Musharraf's [Images] visit to China in February.

About 150 Chinese delegates and more than 300 Pakistani energy, financial experts and entrepreneurs are participating in the forum.

With the participants, Aziz also shared Pakistan government's strategic direction for development of the energy sector and to ensure sustainable supply of energy at competitive prices to all sectors of the economy.

This included increasing emphasis on nuclear energy as the prime minister expressed the hope to generating 8,800 mw power through the source in the next 25 years.

The strategic direction also include enhancing exploitation of hydropower to make industry more competitive by reducing cost of inputs; developing and encouraging use of renewable energy resources; developing coal reserves; accelerating exploration and production of indigenous oil and gas; options to import gas and encouraging use of CNG, LPG and the import of LNG to meet short-term gas requirements.

Aziz underlined Pakistan's geo-strategic location at the confluence of three vital regions -- South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia -- providing the shortest access to the sea for all landlocked countries of Central Asia as well as Western China.

Pakistan, he said, was also fast emerging as the junction for multiple corridors of cooperation between all three regions involving energy, trade, transportation and tourism.

In this regard, the prime minister mentioned the building of a deep water port at Gwadar with Chinese assistance and construction of road and rail links to facilitate and operationalise accesses among the three regions.

"We are interested in developing Gwadar not only as a trans-shipment port but also as an 'energy port' by establishing mega refineries, building storage capacity and laying pipeline ensuring secure and reliable supplies to Western China," he said.

The prime minister also said the Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation reflected the determination of the Pakistan and Chinese governments to promote comprehensive cooperation in the field of energy -- nuclear power, fossil fuels, renewable resources and coal.

Besides, the agreement would realise the concept of building energy corridor between Pakistan and China, he added.