$30bn Chinese investment transformed Pak economic landscape: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that China had so far invested a valuable $30 billion under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which had really transformed the economic landscape in Pakistan.

Addressing an award ceremony in Islamabad on Monday, the prime minister assured Chinese companies and investors that the “difficult time for them is now over”.

Shehbaz said he was aware that the Chinese companies faced a tough time and problems in the recent past during the tenure of the previous government, Geo News reported.

He assured Chinese investors to further simplify procedures for the companies working in Pakistan, especially under the umbrella of CPEC and implement them in letter and spirit.

Earlier, the prime minister gave awards to top-performing Chinese companies working especially on projects under CPEC in Pakistan.

The premier said that the government had launched a great initiative “The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC)”, which would consist of all main stakeholders including the federal government, all provincial governments and institutions particularly the Pakistan Army led by General Syed Asim Munir.

The prime minister said the army chief had personally contributed to this programme in a way that it had no parallel in the past as he was totally dedicated to promote the cause of Pakistan and the people who had education and talent but no jobs.

“The programme, SIFC will dovetail with the entire CPEC mechanism and will be a propeller in terms of Pakistan’s industrial agri progress,” he added.

Meanwhile, the third meeting of the Apex Committee of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was held here on Monday to continue the positive momentum to attract investment in various sectors of economy.

The meeting was chaired by the prime minister and attended by the Chief of Army Staff, chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers, and high-level government officials.

The Apex Committee gave final approval of the projects, presented by the ministries, for attracting investments from friendly countries, under umbrella of the SIFC, in key sectors of agriculture, livestock, mining, minerals, information technology and energy.

Separately, the prime minister announced a Rs1 million reward for a student who topped the Secondary School Examination of Gujranwala Board, besides announcing a monthly stipend of Rs30,000. The prime minister made the announcement as Jamshed Ali, the SSC topper met the prime minister along with his mother, teacher Waheed Ashraf and Chairman of the Gujranwala Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Naveed Haider Sherazi. The prime minister appreciated the student for his excellent performance and announced Rs1 million reward for his encouragement. The prime minister instructed that the government should bear all of the educational expenditures of Jamshed Ali till his master’s degree.

Meanwhile, Speaking in Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath” on Monday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the MQM-P has proposed the name of [Sindh governor] Kamran Tessori for the post, adding that another coalition partner the PPP also intends to give a name or two. The final name of the caretaker prime minister will come to the fore today (Tuesday), he added.