Leveraging BRI financing: Pakistan presents USD4.85bn climate investment plan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has presented a USD 4.85 billion climate investment plan to Chinese officials and business leaders, seeking to leverage Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) financing, Chinese technology and private-sector partnerships to promote climate-resilient and green development in the country.

The initiative was unveiled at a high-level CVF-V20 and Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) dialogue held here on Thursday ahead of Pakistan’s participation in the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2026 in Beijing.

The event titled “Shared Future, Shared Prosperity: From Alignment to Amplification - Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs)” drew senior government officials, diplomats, business representatives, and climate-finance experts to explore how country-owned CPPs can align with Chinese finance, technology, and implementation partnerships.

It comes weeks ahead of the CVF-V20 mission to the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2026 in Beijing and lands in the 75th anniversary year of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations.

It’s Investor Book of 69 selected projects spans eight priority sectors and was presented as a template for aligning BRI and the Green Investment and Finance Partnership (GIFP) with CPPs.

Jauhar Saleem, President of the IRS, welcomed the participants and emphasised the need to translate strategic alignment into implementation. “The real objective is to identify how climate priorities can become investable opportunities and how cooperation can translate plans into transactions, projects and measurable development outcomes,” he said.

Chargé d’affaires Shi Yuanqiang of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China delivered remarks as Guest of Honor, highlighting the growing opportunities for China-Pakistan cooperation in green development. “Pakistan’s Climate Prosperity Plan provides a clear pathway and broad market space for enterprises from various countries, including Chinese companies, to make green investments in Pakistan,” he said. “On the path of responding to climate change and achieving green development, China has always stood firmly with Pakistan.”

Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, said, “CVF-V20 has helped Pakistan move from climate ambition to implementation. Through the Climate Prosperity Plan, we now have a country-owned pipeline that connects our national priorities with investment. China is a natural partner, with the technology, manufacturing capacity and finance to help turn these projects into jobs, resilience and green growth.”

Ms. Sara Jane Ahmed, Managing Director and V20 Finance Advisor of the CVF-V20 Secretariat, emphasised that the opportunity extends across the wider CVF-V20 membership. “Pakistan and other V20 countries are building a growing supply of country-owned, investable project opportunities.

Hamza Haroon, Regional Director for West and South Asia at the CVF-V20 Secretariat, said the challenge facing vulnerable economies has never been a lack of ambition, but a lack of access to affordable finance, dependable technology, and reliable partners.

Panelists included Nadeem Ahsan, Joint Secretary External Finance at the Ministry of Finance; Ambassador Naghmana Hashmi, former Ambassador of Pakistan to China; Wu Dawei, Secretary-General of the China Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan; Dr. Muzammil Zia, Project Director of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; Bilal Janjua, Vice President of the Pakistan China Commerce Alliance International; and Zulfiqar Younus, Senior Advisor, Climate Finance, CVF-V20 Secretariat.

Dr. Syed Ali Asad Gillani, Pakistan’s Ambassador Designate to the People’s Republic of China, emphasised the importance of sustained follow-up. “I intend to make our embassy a working door for the partnerships that begin here,” he said. “A shared future is not something we wait to inherit. It is something we build, and I believe we have, today, agreed on how to begin.”

The high-level dialogue marks the beginning of a broader push. The CVF-V20 will host a pavilion at CIFTIS 2026, China’s biggest services sector fair, from September 9 to 13 in Beijing. There, CVF-V20 countries will present project pipelines and partnership models to Chinese institutions, enterprises and investors, with the immediate objective of carrying forward a smaller set of priority opportunities backed by clearer counterparties, defined financing needs, and credible implementation pathways.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026