Pakistan is fast becoming a hub of trade and economic activities due to liberal economic policies of the present government and days are not far when Pakistan will be top priority of foreign investors.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad stated this while talking to a 17-member Chinese delegation led by Executive Vice Chairman of Shandong Province Federation of Industry and Commerce Sun Ru Sheng at LCCI on Wednesday. LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed and Executive Members were also present.
Arshad said China has played a fundamental role in economic uplift of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan consider China a saviour as it had extended best cooperation to Islamabad at all testing times.
He said Chinese delegation is visiting Pakistan at a time when Pakistan is looking to maximise foreign direct investment, asserting that being a resourceful country, Pakistan has a lot to offer to foreign investors.
The LCCI president mentioned that Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of milk and cotton, 9th largest producer of wheat, 10th largest producer of rice, 7th largest producer of fruits and ranked 10th as far as labour force is concerned.
Geographically, Pakistan is situated at one of the best places of the world and foreign investor can make their way to the landlocked Central Asian States and countries of the South Asia through making investment in Pakistan, he maintained.
He said China is one of the largest trading partners of Pakistan and it is expected that bilateral trade between Pakistan and China will touch the figure of $ 15 billion within the next few years.
Although Pakistan’s exports to China have gradually been increasing, the trade has always been in favour of China.
He said due to excellent economic policies of China and the hard work of Chinese leadership, China has become a big economic force in the world.
While, LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed invited the Chinese businessmen to invest in Pakistan in priority sectors including oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, power (coal, hydel, gas ), IT and telecom, chemicals, live stock and dairy farming.
Because of its strategic location, he said Pakistan could be a more suitable destination for Chinese investments. Pakistan is offering liberal investment policies allowing 100 percent foreign equity and equal treatment to local and foreign investors.
He said Pakistan has a network of export processing zones and industrial estates ready to accommodate Chinese investors especially in Punjab.
He said globalisation had provided Chinese investors a golden opportunity to relocate their large scale industry to Pakistan to reap the benefits of its most conducive business policies as compared to other regional countries.
Head of the Chinese delegation Sun Ru Sheng said Chinese businessmen are ready to join hands with Pakistani counterparts in the sectors including mining, infrastructure development, environmental protection including water treatment projects, dairy, chemicals (glue) and cold storage establishment.
He said the Chinese business community values Pakistan highly therefore they were always ready to put their money in new ventures in Pakistan.
