ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday hosted a marketing session for around 70 Chinese companies as it seeks to speed up the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – industrial development.
Khalid Mansoor, Chairman of the CPEC Authority (CPECA), briefed the CEOs and representatives of Chinese companies about the latest developments on the CPEC horizon, various business opportunities and incentives for investment.
Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, Chairman of the Investment Board and the Chinese Ambassador to Islamabad also attended the session. Some Chinese companies joined in via video link.
According to an official statement, Mansour told Chinese companies that the second phase of CPEC aims to enhance bilateral cooperation in the industrial, technical and agricultural sectors, for which business-to-business cooperation will recognize success and opportunities.
Government ready to start second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
He highlighted that four out of nine agreed Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with Gwadar Free Zone under the aegis of CPEC were now in an advanced stage of development and investors had started populating these SEZs.
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“Pakistan offers regionally competitive incentives in SEZs, including 10-year income tax exemption and customs duty exemption on import of capital goods,” he said, adding that the CPECA is committed to providing all kinds of assistance to CPEC. was setting up a facilitation centre. investor. It will be a platform to act as a one-window operation for investors through coordination of various ministries as well as provinces.
Explaining the importance of the second phase of bilateral cooperation, the Chairman of CPECA said that the main objective is to accelerate the socio-economic development of Pakistan by bringing about industrial, technological and agricultural revolution through Chinese investment and transfer of technology.
To achieve this, he said that to achieve this, joint ventures on export growth (in areas like textiles, information technology, etc.) and import substitution (like steel, agricultural productivity, etc.) are to create local employment opportunities and to unite Pakistan. The focus was on promoting manufacturing center.
Mr. Mansour said that CPECA will enable a ‘plug and play environment’ for the development of Special Economic Zones by empowered SEZ management companies to facilitate investors to build stronger ties with key state and economic entities in China.
Asad Umar urged Chinese investors to explore more investment opportunities in the industrial, agricultural and information technology sectors. He said that due to a special relationship between the two countries, the government and people of Pakistan would like to see a lot of investment from China.
He requested the support of Chinese companies operating in Pakistan to attract more FDI in the country.
The Chinese ambassador expressed his appreciation for the event that brought together all Chinese companies and said that Chinese enterprises would work closely with the CPEC authority to enhance their trade and investment activities in Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, November 16, 2021
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