Chinese investment grows in Pakistan

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: The government will announce more facilities for the Chinese investors in the coming days to further cement the longstanding friendship, Federal Minister for Board of Investment (BOI) Chaudhry Salik Hussain told Gwadar Pro.

The minister maintained that the Chinese investments had increased ever since the new government took over in April this year.

“We (the government) have a policy of facilitating the investors and for China we have a special regard. In the days to come, we will announce more facilities for the Chinese investors who are generously investing money in Pakistan,” he remarked while speaking to Gwadar Pro on Saturday night.

The minister maintained that his recent meetings with the Chinese investors had been very positive and he was optimistic about the massive investments coming from the Iron Brother.

“The CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) is an enormous project and we can keep expecting more and more investments not only from China but from other countries in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs under the CPEC),” Hussain contended.

The minister mentioned that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was a big support of the CPEC and had pushed all the concerned ministries and departments to complete the CPEC projects at the earliest.

Recently, Optima Integration Group of China joined hands with Asia-Pak Investments of Pakistan to invest US $50 million in the first phase to develop agriculture, power and logistics sectors in Gwadar and Karachi.

This comes as China has decided to invest in Pakistan in the Electric Vehicles (EVs) manufacturing and agriculture sector to enhance the economic activities in the local market.

The investment in both sectors will create growth and new employment opportunities in these sectors.

In a recent agreement, the BOIhas facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies in this regard, which would create more than 100 jobs in Gwadar and Karachi, besides establishment of a high-tech processing facility along with technology transfer.

Under the MoU, the two groups would set up an end-to-end supply chain for seafood, adding that 79 species of fish are approved by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China for export from Pakistan to China.

In the long run, the project would expand from fish to beef and goat – starting off with exporting beef with cold chain transport, then scaling with Chinese standard breeding, feedlot operations, vaccinations, and track and trace technology, and slaughter and pack facilities in Karachi.

China based Gauss Auto Group has planned to establish an EV plant in Karachi SEZs. The group has planned to enter into a Joint Venture (JV) with AKD Group Holdings and set up the plant near Port Qasim, Karachi on around 1000 acres of land.

The Gauss Auto is an enterprise focusing on the innovation and development of automobiles and the integration of resources.

The BOI leadership encouraged Gauss Auto Group to invest in the auto sector of Pakistan and extended maximum support and facilitation to the company.

Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain expressed the confidence that more Chinese investments will create job and business opportunities for the Pakistanis.