China to provide Pakistan with technical ‘know-how’ and expertise to boost exports and facilitate successful execution of SEZs
Newswire
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that China will provide Pakistan with technical ‘know-how’ and expertise to boost exports and facilitate the successful execution of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Addressing an international seminar here, Iqbal maintained that instead of simply receiving assistance, Pakistan requested China to teach them how to increase exports and effectively manage the SEZs.
The seminar titled “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at Ten: A Gateway to Regional Connectivity,” was organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institution (IPRI).
Ahsan Iqbal emphasized the importance of export-oriented policies for sustainable economic growth and highlighted the potential for business-to-business cooperation in the next phase of the CPEC project.
He also mentioned the interest shown by Gulf countries to invest in various fields in Pakistan, and the need for long-term policy consistency to reap the benefits of development projects.
The CPEC project has been instrumental in transforming Pakistan’s economy, promoting regional connectivity, and attracting foreign investment, he remarked.
“It began after an MoU was signed between China and Pakistan in 2013, leading to significant progress and making China a prominent economic partner for Pakistan,” he added.
The minister stressed that China had a vast experience in these sectors as it itself attained economic progress by increasing exports and establish vibrant industrial units besides having global chains for marketing its products.
Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan needed export-oriented policies if wanted to have sustainable economic growth, stressing for clamping ‘export emergency’ to get exponential exports not incremental ones.
He also highlighted the importance to have surplus production of various items to increase the country’s exports as otherwise it could cause ‘local market distortion.” “Next phase of the CPEC is business-to-business cooperation, not the government-to-government. Now we have to move towards industrial cooperation”, he added.
Elaborating, the minister said first phase of theCPEC project, initiated in 2013, was the infrastructure development by 2022, the second phase was industrialization from 2020 to 2025 and the third one was regional integration from 2025-30.
He said the incumbent government had revived the CPEC project, which faced slow-pace during the four years of the PTI government, expressing confidence it would be game changer not only for Pakistan but the whole region.
Iqbal informed that now Gulf countries were showing keen interest to invest in diverse fields of Pakistan including agriculture, mining, information technology and energy, for which a Special Investment Facilitation Council had been set up.
The minister said the country needed at least 10-year policy consistency to get the fruits of any development project.
During 2013-18, Ahsan Iqbal said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz achieved great progress in the energy sector and produced around 11500 megawatts of additional electricity under the CPEC and non-CPEC projects and pulled the country out of 18-20 hours of load-shedding.
He mentioned the CPEC projects in detail which helped in producing energy by different means, establishing a vibrant road and rail infrastructure across the country, special economic zones and laying of fiber optic cable for high-speed broadband services in remote areas and social welfare projects especially in Gwadar, an ultimate destination of the CPEC.
The minister said the CPEC had emerged as one of Pakistan’s most successful and transformative projects, ushering in a new era of regional connectivity and economic prosperity.
He said it was the transformative impact of CPEC that China became the top foreign direct investor in Pakistan within just three years of the project’s initiation.
The minister said “This shift elevated China from a close political ally to a key economic partner, emphasizing the transition from geopolitics to geo-economics.”
IPRI President Ambassador Dr Raza Muhammad, Director Pakistan Institute of China Studies (PICS) Sargodha University Fazul ur Rehman, former SAPM on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor, Director China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) Dr Hu ShiSheng and Sohail Malik of Team Lead Climate Resourcing Coordination Center (CRC) among the leading speakers who spoke at a panel discussion of the seminar and highlighted significance of China-Pakistan relations besides various aspects of the game-changer CPEC project.
The panel discussion was moderated by Assistant Professor, Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Dr Salma Malik.
