Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited Chinese firms to invest in various fields in Pakistan including the science and technology sector. The premier met with the CEOs of various Chinese firms during his visit to China and signed more than 10 MoU’s for investment in technology and other important sectors of the country.
Moreover, the PM also met with the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang on Sunday and signed the second phase of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the countries. In the second phase of this agreement, Pakistan will get duty-free access to the Chinese markets. Imran Khan also met with the CEO of Huawei Technologies and signed an MoU to establish Huawei’s first cloud centre in the country.
During the meeting, both leaders exchanged views on bilateral collaboration between the two countries, in the context of CPEC and also discussed ways to further increase the economic linkages. They agreed to further encourage the political, economic, education, science and technology, cultural, and people-to-people relations.
The PM Khan also mentioned the importance of CPEC for Pakistan’s economy and expressed its satisfaction that CPEC is now expanding into new areas of development including development, social uplift, livelihood projects, and agriculture. He also hoped that China’s investment in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) would further expand Pakistan’s industrial base and will also help to diversify its export basket.
While addressing the Pakistan and China Investment Forum, Imran Khan said that CPEC has become a strategic partnership between Pakistan and China involving various fields of cooperation. He said that CPEC which was earlier considered a network of roads and a few projects only has now developed into a strong partnership between the two countries.
He further stated, “China’s help in seed and agriculture development will help increase our agricultural productivity manifold. It will also increase the growth trajectory in order to improve the lifestyle of our people”.
The PM assured that the development targets will be achieved within the next two year, and invited the Chinese businesspersons to visit Pakistan and explore other investment opportunities in the country.
