Pak, China CEOs for establishing close linkages between two peoples

Islamabad

The chief executives officers (CEOs) of both Pakistan and China on Monday termed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) major opportunity for business entrepreneurs for establishing right kind of linkages for attracting Chinese industrialists to relocate their plants alongside the upcoming CPEC industrial zones inside Pakistan.

Zhu Xinqiang also asked for establishing close linkages between the media of both countries in order to create awareness among the masses. He also asked for making adjustments in CPEC projects and routes and also involved parliamentarians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into whole process of the CPEC. 

“We are going to establish five special industrial zones one in each province as the supply of energy and road connectivity by 2018 will provide us enabling environment in this regard,” Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal told the participants of CEOs Forum o belonging to both Pakistan and China during the CPEC summit and Expo arranged by Ministry of Planning here on Monday.

Bashir Ali Mohammad, Chairman Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, said that the world economy was slowing down and despite providing zero interest rate the economy of the US and Europe was not picking up. The China’s GDP also slowdown to six percent and now it was opportunity for Pakistan that China could shift its some industry to Pakistan for having adequate skilled labour force.

Zhu Xinqiang, CPEC consultant, said that the corridor has become topic of public debate and there was need to place effective dispute resolution mechanism at all levels. The panacea of the CPEC is unclear and there is need to adopt step by step approach.

He asked for making adjustments as it would ensure regional economic integration and it was imperative to study and make adjustments accordingly on the route of the CPEC.

He said that the CPEC should create win-win for all stakeholders and Chinese companies should abide by the laws of Pakistan. There is need to implement model of public-private partnership. The CPEC should be brought at grassroots level.

He asked for close interaction and exchanges between the media of both the countries and also advised Chinese companies to create social media accounts to interact with people of Pakistan.

The success of CPEC, he said, would depend on important factor that how much both sides attach importance to this initiative.

He said that Pakistan could export meat, lamb and a lot of donkeys to China. There is need to establish special banks for providing funding to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The expert on logistics said that there should be no monopoly on logistics and said that the trucks crossing borders would be ranging between 200 to 1,200 per day after completion of CPEC’s first phase by 2018.

Pakistan and China had ratified TIR agreement which would also help for improving logistics and ensuring connectivity in this part of the world, he concluded.