Pakistan gives a new direction to ties with China: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan has given a new direction to its relations with China, laying greater focus on economic interaction and going for a "win-win" situation. Addressing a gathering of over 600 Chinese entrepreneurs at a local hotel on Friday, he said his current visit to China was aimed at giving a boost to economic ties between the two friendly countries.
Pakistan, he said cherished its friendship with China and wished it were exploited for the economic benefit of their people. He said, he held useful talks with Chinese leaders about setting up a strong base for greater economic collaboration.
The conference was also addressed by Chen Jinhua, President China Enterprise Confederation, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Zhou Yu Peng, Federal Minister for Industries Jahangir Tareen and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Wasim Haqqie.
The prime minister explained to the Chinese businessmen how they could profitably invest in Pakistan where economic reforms over the past five years had made the economy strong and vibrant.
He said Chinese investors could put their money in a number of sectors, including textile, information technology, construction, housing, electronic and food processing. For which, he said, they were establishing exclusive economic zones for Chinese investors.
The premier said Pakistan's relationship with China was the richest in the world and of which the entire Pakistani nation felt proud. "We are proud of achievements of the Chinese in the economic sector," he said, adding, "today the whole world is looking towards them for economic co-operation."
Expressing satisfaction over growing Pak-China trade relations, Shaukat Aziz said they grew by 30 percent in the past one year. He told the audience, which also included Pakistani businessmen, contracts between Pakistan and China stood at $4 billion.
ATTRACTIVE PROFITS: While inviting Chinese businessmen to invest in Pakistan, he assured them that they would get attractive profits and security of their capital because of consistent economic policies.
He said Pakistan's decision to open a consulate office in Shanghai was also indicative of Pakistan's seriousness in expanding its economic ties with one of the greatest commercial port cities of China.
"During the last five years, we have made enormous progress under the leadership of President Pervez Musharraf, he said. The growth rate was expected to rise to 7 to 8 percent during the next couple of years. He added that his government has introduced major structural reforms.
"Chinese investors will work in an enabling environment in Pakistan," the premier said and pointed out that macro-economic indicators are very strong. "Pakistan can become a regional manufacturing centre for the export of their products to the countries of Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa."
"We are expanding our network to facilitate foreign investors. Now Pakistan represents an attractive destination to foreign investors since we provide one-window facility for opening up business with tax-free tariff structure, Shaukat Aziz said.
"The growth rate has been improving, he said, adding, "two export processing zones in Sindh and Punjab each are being set up, while Karachi Export Zone is being upgraded to provide the maximum possible facilities to exporters to play a more active role in the national economy and further promote exports."
"Foreign investment is fully protected by law, including avoidance of double taxation," he said, adding, "the government will use all its resources for getting access to the world markets and open doors for exporters." Shaukat Aziz said, "to enhance our exports significantly, there is also a need to enhance competitiveness to meet WTO challenges."
Earlier, Jahangir Tareen gave a detailed representation on the existing investment opportunities in Pakistan with the help of slides.
He said Pakistan's relations with China were multi-dimensional. He spoke about the sect-ors in which Chinese co-operation could be considerably enhanced.
Chen highly praised China-Pakistan relations and said it is broadening in all directions. "Recently, we have seen frequent visits by members of the business circle and their trade and commercial ties are continuing to grow to higher levels."
He urged Chinese companies to bring their capital to Pakistan for enhancing their exports and obtaining better returns on their investment.
Vice Mayor of Shanghai Zhou Yu said they considered Pakistan a strong and reliable partner and were looking forward to develop bilateral partnership in the economic field. He pointed out that presidents of the two countries signed a document, which set the directions for achieving their future economic targets.
He said: "We value our traditional friendship with Pakistan and are prepared to play our role by transforming diplomatic relations into mutually beneficial economic relations."
Zhou further said: "There is enormous potential for two countries to develop trade taking advantage of the Free Market Economy status." The businessmen of the two countries could exploit the growing opportunities taking benefit of the existing friendly environment.