Pakistan, China hold webinar in Jakarta: BoI chief presents investment opportunities in CPEC

ISLAMABAD: The Board of Investment (BoI) presented investment opportunities in the CPEC during a webinar jointly organised by embassies of Pakistan and China in Jakarta.

MOS/chairman BoI, ambassadors of Pakistan and China to Jakarta, deputy minister for coordination and mining, chairman KADIN, DG NDRC, deputy chairman BKMP, and deputy director CIECC were part of the webinar.

The event highlighted the CPEC achievements as the flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and apprised the audience about the project’s inclusiveness to third-party participation.

Addressing the webinar, MOS/ BoI chairman Atif Bokhari shared that CPEC has entered in its second phase and efforts are now focused on forging B2B and P2P collaborations in the form of industrial and socio-economic cooperation.

He further stated that the government has launched the conducive policies for electric vehicles, mobile manufacturing, and construction sectors in a bid to enhance investment profile of Pakistan.

He concluded by encouraging Indonesian and Chinese investors to be part of the shared future of industrialisation and economic prosperity.

Pakistan Ambassador to Jakarta Muhammad Hassan underscored the importance of the webinar as a meaningful platform that offers an opportunity to all sides to understand and explore the potential avenues.

Chinese Ambassador Xion Qian remarked that the CPEC is a landmark project and it offers valuable opportunity to the three countries to explore trilateral cooperation and untapped business opportunities.

The participants identified that Pakistan and Indonesia can explore collaboration in the field of textile, food processing, agricultural products, infrastructural development, chemical and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, gemstones, iron and steel to name a few, as Indonesian companies have vast experience and expertise in these areas.

The Indonesian speakers stated that their companies can help Pakistan in establishing downstream industry and also assist with value-added products.

Secretary BOI Fareena Mazhar shared that Pakistan would welcome Indonesian investment in sectors such as food and agriculture, value-added textile, tourism, construction and also encourage investors to explore the electric vehicle sector as Pakistan offers tremendous scope for setting EV manufacturing units.

A detailed presentation on the CPEC was delivered by PMU project director Asim Ayub. He briefed the audience about industrial cooperation under CPEC, various incentives available to investors under SEZ act and told that Pakistan also offers sole enterprise option.

He emphasised that Pakistan is fully focused towards industrial transformation and investors should take benefit of the lucrative incentives.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021