CPEC Authority hosted meeting of Pakistan based Chinese companies

ISLAMABAD: To encourage Chinese investors to explore more investment opportunities in the country, the CPEC Authority on Monday hosted a meeting of the Chinese companies working in Pakistan.

Asad Umar, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Khalid Mansoor SAPM on CPEC Affairs, Chairman Board of Investment (BOI), and Ambassador of China to Pakistan attended the meeting which was held in CPEC Authority’s auditorium. The meeting was also attended by CEOs and representatives of over 70 Chinese companies while a number of companies joined through video links as well.

Khalid Mansoor SAPM on CPEC Affairs briefed the participants on the latest developments with regard to CPEC and stated that Phase-II of the CPEC is aimed to enhance the bilateral cooperation in Industrial, Technological and Agricultural sectors.

Mr. Mansoor added that business-to-business collaboration would be a hallmark of this phase of CPEC.

The SAPM highlighted that four out of a total of nine agreed on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along with Gwadar Free Zone under the auspices of CPEC are at an advanced stage of development and investors have started to populate these SEZs.

Pakistan offers regionally competitive incentives in SEZs including 10 years’ income tax exemption and exemption of customs duty on import of capital goods. He further stated that the CPEC Authority is setting up a facilitation centre for CPEC investors.

Asad Umar encouraged Chinese investors to explore more investment opportunities in Industrial, Agricultural, and Information Technology areas. The Minister said that due to the special relationship between Pakistan and China, the Government and people of Pakistan would wish to see much greater investment from China.

Mr. Umar solicited the support of Chinese companies working in Pakistan in order to attract more foreign direct investment from China in the country.

The Ambassador of China Nong Rong expressed his appreciation for the event which brought together all the Chinese companies. He said that Chinese enterprises will work closely with the CPEC Authority to increase their business and investment activities in Pakistan.

CEOs of various companies also spoke on the occasion and presented their ideas and suggestions for consideration by the Government.