Imran Khan inaugurates Chinese company MG Motors $100 million assembly unit in Islamabad
by Shafqat Ali
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 2 (Gwadar Pro) - Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday afternoon inaugurated the ground-breaking of a 100 million USD automobile manufacturing and assembly unit in Islamabad by Chinese company MG Motors that will produce regular models and electric vehicles.
The Chinese motor company will invest and start local production of these vehicles in Pakistan by the middle of 2021.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, the Prime Minister said China was Pakistan's biggest ally in industrialization and was supporting the country in achieving its goals of economic prosperity through industrial development. He said Pakistan could learn a great deal from China, as its economic model “best suits” the country.
Imran Khan said the present government was in consultation with the Chinese government on ways to enhance exports. He said Pakistan was also working with China in agriculture, particularly seed development and productivity increase.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan needs to adopt the Chinese model of development to grow. “If we can learn from any one country in the world, it is China. Their development model suits Pakistan the best. The speed with which China developed in the last 30 years is something we can learn from. Beijing had managed to prove that poverty alleviation is true development,” he added.
PM Khan said the government was looking to guide the relocation of Chinese industries to Pakistan, similar to how China relocated industries to Vietnam. “For this purpose, we have launched Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Next, we aim to convince them to export from Pakistan, he said.
The PM said Pakistan was working with China on increasing “our productivity and using their technology. The next phase the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) includes the agricultural sector.”
The Prime Minister said 2021 would be a year of economic growth, emphasizing that the country was already moving in the right direction as essential industries increased productivity.
Commenting on the agriculture sector, he said the government was also working with the Chinese on seed development and productivity improvement.
Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong said China would boost investment in Pakistan.
He said CPEC would be a great game changer and lead to extensive economic activity and create employment opportunities in diverse areas.
