Chinese company keen to invest in Pak energy projects

CHENGDU: A leading Chinese company currently working on Ashkot hydropower project in Azad Jammu Kashmir has shown interest in investing more in energy related projects in Pakistan.

The Chairman of the Sichuan Energy Electric Power Development Co. Ltd., Wu Jianwen, met the Consul General (CG) of Pakistan in Chengdu, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, at his office Tuesday.

The chairman was accompanied by a large delegation including management team of the group dealing with Pakistan. The delegation briefed the CG about Sichuan Energy Electric Power Development Company’s on-going 300 MW hydropower project, Ashkot, in Azad Jammu Kashmir.

The group intends financing the project by making consortium of Chinese company and including a Pakistani company as a JV partner of the project, the statement issued by the consulate stated. The total project cost would be close to US 780 million dollars.

The Sichuan Energy Electric Power Development Co. Ltd is subsidiary of Sichuan Energy Investment Group Co. Ltd. (SCEI), which is a State-owned Enterprise. The SCEI has 225 subsidiary companies covering four main areas, i.e., (a) energy, (b) chemical industry, (c) modern services (tourism and culture) and (d) strategic emerging industries with total asset value of RMB 108.5 billion. SCEI is listed among Top 500 Companies in China.

Jianwen underscored that his group is interested in investing in more energy-related projects and hoped that Pakistan’s government would provide more opportunities to the company in this regard.

The CG after welcoming the delegation briefed it about the on-going economic and developmental projects in Pakistan. He highlighted that Pakistan in the past few years has invested heavily in its power sector and introduced wide-ranging reforms. The CG welcomed SCEI’s decision to invest in Pakistan and assured that the government will provide full support to the group in executing power projects in the country.

He also specially informed the group about Pakistan’s breath-taking tourism potential and offered the SCEI group to invest in Pakistan’s burgeoning tourism sector. Chairman Wu supporting the idea stated that his subsidiary company would explore Pakistan as a tourist destination.