China satisfied with smooth functioning of CPEC: Sun Weidong
A five-day Pakistan-China Business Friendship Conference organised by the Ministry of Commerce, started on Monday.
Over 100-member delegation from China, heads of Chinese companies working in Pakistan and prominent traders and businessmen of Pakistan attended the conference, which was held in collaboration with the Board of Investment and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
Addressing the inaugural session, Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan said improved law and order situation in Pakistan would attract foreign investment.
He said meetings between Chinese delegation and traders of Pakistan would promote trade between the two countries. He expressed the hope that the trade volume between the two countries would increase to $13 billion this year.
The minister said that China was a major partner and reliable friend of Pakistan.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the friendship conference would strengthen trade relations between Pakistan and China.
He expressed the hope that $46 billion Chinese investment on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would go up to $100 billion.
The CPEC, he said, would benefit three billion population of the region.
Addressing the conference, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong said that the implementation process of CPEC was going on smoothly as it enjoyed the support and backing of the people.
Sun said the Chinese government was encouraging its entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan. Now direct investment in Pakistan had reached to $3.6 billion, which was highest in South Asia and this trend would continue in the years to come.
The conference, organised by the Ministry of Commerce, was being attended by a large number of Chinese entrepreneurs, who arrived here Sunday night, with former ambassador to Pakistan Sha Zukang as their leader. Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan welcomed the Chinese guests and highlighted the conference’s objectives, hoping it would lead to maximum Chinese investment in the country for their mutual benefit.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, inaugurating the conference, said that the CPEC had become an integral part of Sino-Pak economic partnership. This flagship project would bring their economic relationship to a new height, hopefully matching their diplomatic ties. The CPEC, he said, was the centre of the country’s economic agenda.
Inviting the foreign investment, the minister said that Pakistan enjoyed rich potential of human and natural resources, which could be exploited for common benefit.
Leader of the Chinese delegation Sha Zukang spoke high of decades’ old Pak-China strategic partnership and said the businessmen were delighted to visit the country, hoping their stay here would be result-oriented in expanding investment network. The visiting Chinese companies, he said, were inclined to develop trade and economic ties with Pakistan and were looking forward for extensive interaction with their Pakistani counterparts.
Ambassador Sun Weidong said that Pak-China business conference was testimony to the fact that Pakistan attached great importance to its economic ties with China. He hoped that the visiting entrepreneurs would explore the available opportunities to meet the wishes and aspirations of their people and the leadership.
He recalled that the 2015 was the milestone year in their economic interaction. He referred to the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that it had opened a new chapter in their relationship. Series of social and economic activities took place in the recent year, which brought them closer still.
His country, the ambassador said, was ready to extend all possible cooperation to its “iron brother”, bringing the economic ties to a new height. “Our friendship is deep-rooted and our resources are complementary to each other,” he added.
He noted that there had been considerable increase in volume of trade between the two countries in the recent years, while China’s direct investment in Pakistan was also showing upward trend. Pakistan, he said, had emerged as China’s largest investment destination in the region. The two countries had a mutually beneficially cooperative partnership that would ultimately ensure peace, progress and prosperity for their people. The CPEC had given a new impetus to their economic ties, he added.
Ahsan Iqbal termed the CPEC a transformational project, which, he hoped, would lead to economic wellbeing of the entire region and achieve the objective of connectivity with the rest of the world.
Pakistan and China had a shared destiny and it was natural for them to work together for a common cause.
Underlying the importance of developing geo-economic relationship, the minister hoped that the business community of the two countries would capitalise on the historic opportunity that had been provided through the CPEC. He noted that all the projects under CPEC were progressing at a fast pace.
