Deputy PM Dar invites Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan

BEIJING: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that the government under economic reforms agenda offers attractive incentive for investment and asked the Chinese entrepreneurs to take advantage of the friendly policies and set up labour intensive industry in Pakistan.

The labour cost is very competitive and much less as compared to the current labor cost in China. Agriculture, textile, mining and Information Technology (IT) are the prime areas where there is a great scope to do business in Pakistan.

He made these remarks in his keynote address at the Pakistan-China Business Roundtable Conference organized by the Pakistan Embassy, Beijing.

Ishaq Dar said that the government has expedited construction of special economic zones and offered attractive incentives for establishment of different industrial units. “We have worked out 13 key areas having great potential for the Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneurs to establish industry on ownership basis or through joint venture with Pakistani business people”, he added.

He said that Pakistan being at the crossroads of Central Asia, Southeast, and Middle East provides a great potential for the export-oriented industry.

Ishaq Dar suggested the Chinese companies to do value addition and export to all these markets which have almost one and a half billion population. The Chinese businessmen could enjoy preferential market access to major economies such as the European Union, Gulf, China itself and other countries which have free trade agreements with Pakistan, he added.

He said that there are competitive and lucrative incentives especially in special economic zones, export processing zones, Gwadar free zone, and special technology zones. These are the four areas where the Chinese businessmen could set up business with special fiscal and economic incentives, he maintained.

The deputy prime minister highlighted that the process of privatising certain state-owned enterprises could also be looked into from the business point of view. He assured the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakistan and said that culprits of Dasu terrorist attack would soon be brought to justice.

About special investment facilitation council headed by the prime minister, he said that the council has been formed to facilitate and promote investment in Pakistan. He said that the council will facilitate the Chinese investors in the minimum possible time under one roof through one window.

In his welcome speech, Pakistan Ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi informed that the embassy has done a detailed study and identified 13 sectors for the investment and asked the Chinese companies, associations and organisations to make joint efforts in going and investing in Pakistan.

The main effort is to enhance our productive capacity in exportable surplus and then they could export back to China or to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with which Pakistan has a free trade agreement or to the European Union where we have a GST plus deal or a duty-free access to that market, he added.

The Pakistan China Business Roundtable Conference brought together different companies from China for impactful discussions and establishing new paths for business-to-business cooperation.

The conference witnessed a remarkable turnout of Chinese companies, eager to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan.