Virtual conference: Speakers highlight industrial cooperation under CPEC

PESHAWAR: A two-day CPEC Industrial cooperation virtual conference organized by the Centre for Pakistan Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment & Trade as part of the 70 Years Celebration of Pak-China friendship started here on Tuesday.

The panellists from both sides highlighted the industrial cooperation under CPEC.

Among the participants were Moinul Haq, Ambassador of Pakistan to China,. Sher Ali Arbab, Chairman, CPEC Parliamentary Committee, Lt-general (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman CPEC Authority, Hassan Daud Butt, CEO KP-Board of Investment & Trade, Haroon Shareef, member, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Economic Diplomacy, Muneer Kamal, Masood Khalid, Naghmana Hashmi and CEOs of Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh Board of Investment and panellists from China.

The conference was attended by a number of participants from China and Pakistan including public and private sector stakeholders.

Hassan Daud said the agriculture and light engineering sectors were the key sectors in which cooperation needed to be enhanced which could impact the economic development of both countries. People-to-people exchange linkages strengthening was stressed as well. He said the CPEC projects were bringing economic prosperity and Rashakai Special Economic Zone would be a game-changer towards sustainable economic growth of the province.

Sher Ali Arbab called for interdepartmental cooperation and intergovernmental coordination for smooth implementation of CPEC projects.

He pointed out that Agriculture had not been given the significant attention thus far, adding China has huge potential for Pakistani agriculture products for which innovation and out-of-box solutions were required. The legislator called for connecting Pakistani SEZs, especially from KP and Gilgit Baltistan to the Chinese SEZs.

Retired Lt-General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman, CPEC Authority, said out of 37 SEZs, good progress had been made on Faisalabad SEZ and for Rashakai groundbreaking was drawing near.