A high-level Chinese delegation consisting of 40-50 officials will reach Pakistan tomorrow (Monday) to inspect and finalise investment areas in Gwadar, Karachi and other parts of the country.
According to officials in the planning commission, an important conference of Pakistan-China officials will be held next week to commence work on Pak-China Economic Corridor and the areas where they are supposed to invest including power sector. After this visit, the investment would start coming to Pakistan for the decided projects, they said.
This year the Chinese government signed around $46 billion investment in energy sector, Pak-China Economic Corridor, building Gwadar Airport and other projects.
The last visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan has laid the foundation of billions of dollars investment in Pakistan’s crumbling infrastructure. Some 37 billion dollars alone have been earmarked for fixing the power infrastructure to address the chronic power shortages that have crippled the economy and the society. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal will hold the conference in Karachi on November 9-13 to facilitate Chinese delegates and arrange meetings with Pakistani counterparts.
The officials said the delegates would also visit Gwadar to finalise deals of Gawadar Airport, Pak-China Corridor and other energy sectors. After completion of these projects, the country’s future would be brighter and more job opportunities will create. Russia too is mulling to invest in Pakistan.
After the Russian economy had been hit by Western sanctions in the summer of 2014, the Kremlin started to look towards Asia, particularly Pakistan.
Last month, the Russian government had signed a deal with Pakistan for laying the gas pipeline from Russia to Pakistan passing through Afghanistan and other countries. This gas pipeline would be functional from 2017-18 if the construction work started on time and the situation in Afghanistan remained calm.
Russian state-owned company Rostekh Corporation announced its plans to build a 680-mile gas pipeline to Pakistan by 2017 costing about $2.5 billion. On behalf of Pakistan, Shahid Khakan Abbasi, minister of petroleum, signed the agreement.
