Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof. Ahsan Iqbal presides over “Pakistan- China Business Forum”

July 11,2023

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof. Ahsan Iqbal presided over “Pakistan- China Business Forum”, organised by the Embassy of Pakistan. Senior executives and representatives from over 80 Chinese companies and business associations dealing in food & agriculture, technology, new energy vehicles, solar panel manufacturing, e-commerce, finance, textiles, footwear, pharmaceuticals and chemicals attended the Forum. 

Addressing the Forum, Planning Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment to All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with China. He said the year 2023 signifies the completion of Decade of CPEC, a visionary project that reflects the shared vision of Chinese and Pakistani leadership.

Prof. Ahsan Iqbal noted that CPEC has reinvigorated China-Pakistan economic cooperation. Since its launch in 2013, several key projects worth over US$ 25 billion in energy, physical infrastructure, IT and Gwadar Port have been completed, laying a solid foundation for the next phase of CPEC which is much wider in scope. 

He briefed the Forum participants on the recent steps taken by the Government of Pakistan to facilitate foreign investments including the launch of Investment Policy 2023. He particularly highlighted the significance of newly established Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for the economic revival of the country. The SIFC will be chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, with Chief of Army Staff and Federal Ministers as its members. This is in line with Government of Pakistan’s vision to promote investment and prioritize exports. 

The Minister encouraged Chinese enterprises and investors to take advantage of the attractive investment opportunities offered by Pakistan in various sectors including in agricultural and seed technology, dairy, mining and IT sectors. He called upon Chinese and Pakistani businesspersons to make joint efforts for identifying opportunities of mutual cooperation and removing knowledge gaps.

He also urged them to invest in the export-oriented labour-intensive industries, which would not only support Pakistan’s economy but would also provide an avenue to Chinese companies to sell products manufactured in Pakistan into Chinese market and elsewhere in the world. 

Beijing, 11 July 2023