Proposals to promote Pak-China trade, economic ties discussed

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistan-China Business Forum (PCBF) led by its Chairman Sheikh Nasir Ali visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and showed keen interest to explore business and investment opportunities in Pakistan.

The delegation discussed various options to boost Pak-China business and investment cooperation. The delegation vowed to work jointly for facilitating the business matchmaking and sharing the relevant information regarding the B2B events, exhibitions and trade fairs.

Sheikh Nasir Ali, Chairman, PCBF said that the Forum was working to promote business linkages between Chinese and Pakistani companies to enhance business collaboration, joint ventures and investment between the two countries. He said that PCBF would bring more Chinese companies to Pakistan for JVs and investment in Special Economic Zones of Pakistan being set up in CPEC.

Sheikh Ejaz, Co-Chairman PCBF said that their Forum would cooperate with ICCI in its efforts for a new industrial zone in the region as it would improve Pakistan’s exports, reduce imports and attract more investment from China as well. He said that by investing in Pakistan, Chinese companies can export to Africa, Middle East and other countries. He said that a showroom would be set up in China to display Pakistani products in order to improve their exports.

Liu Shao Hong, Vice Chairman PCBF said that Chinese companies were interested to invest in green energy in Pakistan and PCBF would like to work with ICCI to bring Chinese investors to Pakistan.

Addressing the delegation, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that Chinese companies should transfer technology and set up industrial units in Pakistan to produce imports substitutions. He said that Pakistan’s annual imports of electronics were around $10 billion and Chinese companies should invest in Pakistan to produce electronics goods. He said that many sectors of Pakistan’s economy including IT, engineering, manufacturing, construction, tourism, warehousing, cold chain logistics, air freight & transportation, trucking and urban transport offered great investment opportunities and stressed that Chinese investors should take benefit of them by investing in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022