LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that completion of Gaddani and Gwadar projects with the cooperation of China is the top priority of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Addressing various meetings and functions in Beijing on Monday, he said these projects will help overcome the energy crisis in Pakistan, besides increasing exports and creating a large number of job opportunities.
The chief minister said that development package of $32 billion is a proof that Chinese leaders have full confidence in the present Pakistani leadership. He said China knows that leadership in Pakistan is committed to progress and development of the country and which considers national exchequer as a sacred trust.
The chief minister had a meeting with the senior officials of China Development Bank, the biggest bank in the sector of international cooperation, and ICBC, the biggest commercial bank of China. He said Pakistan is facing a shortage of 6,000 MW of electricity and its demand will further increase in future. He said this situation provides a good opportunity to foreign investors for investment in Pakistan. He said foreign investors will not only have state guarantee regarding sale of electricity but there will also be no restriction on taking their profit back to their country.
Shahbaz further said that Chinese investors should also invest in textile and garment sectors as the cost of production will be low due to cheap labour. He said Pakistan’s export potential has considerably gone up due to granting of GSP Plus status to the country. He also invited Chinese banks to open their branches in Pakistan and assured that all out facilities would be provided to them for this purpose.
Chairman ICBC said Chinese investors want to make investment in Pakistan and Chinese financial institutions are ready to give them facility of loan.
Federal Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan government is providing all out protection to Chinese investors and experts and situation in Pakistan is much better than shown in foreign media and TV channels. He said Pakistan will give preference to such foreign investment under which transfer of technology is compulsory.