Pakistan making effort to curb corruption, set up business facilitation council: Shehbaz
Being; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday assuring all-out facilitation to Chinese investors, and security of Chinese individuals, projects and investments in Pakistan, emphasised that mutually rewarding business-to-business cooperation was key to a bright future for the two people.“I will spare no effort to protect the lives of Chinese workers and assure and guarantee that we will provide them security more than our children. This will never happen again,” he assured.
The Prime Minister said that visiting China is very important for him. He congratulated China for organizing a “wonderful business conference”.
Shahbaz Sharif said that the development of the Chinese city of Shenzhen is a beacon for Pakistan. Today Pakistan’s economy has no competition with China, Pakistan is taking effective measures to control corruption, and it has created a business council to create ease of doing business in Pakistan, he said.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that inflation is a big problem in Pakistan, but the rate of inflation has decreased significantly, and all the economic indicators of Pakistan are moving in a positive direction.
Mohammad Aurangzeb said that this year the current account deficit will be less than one billion US dollars while the rate of inflation has decreased from 38 to 11 percent. The prices of food and beverages are decreasing rapidly and interest rates will have to be revised later this year, he said.
He said that the Pakistani currency had stabilized in a few months and the government was focusing on the economic reform agenda. Foreign investment is increasing in Pakistan and investors are confident, he added.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar while addressing the ceremony said that Pakistan has immense opportunities in various sectors including IT, mineral resources. SIFC is taking steps to encourage investors in Pakistan. Privatization of 84 institutions is under consideration.
Yesterday, the founder and chairman of the Chinese company Transition Holdings Zhu Xiaojiang met Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Shenzhen.
The Chairman of Transition Holdings briefed the prime minister about the company’s current operations in Pakistan, its global exports and plans for further investment in Pakistan.
He told the prime minister that the company already has a mobile phone manufacturing unit in Pakistan, which has provided employment to more than 5,000 Pakistanis. It is keenly interested in expanding the business, which will increase its exports from Pakistan after the manufacture of mobile phones, he said.
He appreciated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dynamic and visionary leadership which elevated his country to become the second-largest economy and military power within a short span of time and steered 700 million people out of poverty, despite pressures and challenges.
He also recalled that during the decades of 50s or 60s, Pakistan’s economic indicators were better than those of China and called for a collective resolve to regain its stature.
The prime minister also lauded President Xi’s vision of peace and development including the Belt and Road Initiative under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had benefited Pakistan immensely through huge investment.
PM Shehbaz embarks on five-day visit to China
Referring to a terror attack on Chinese workers in Besham in the recent past, the prime minister conveyed his condolence for the “dastardly and heart-wrenching” incident and called it “one of the saddest” days of his life when the whole nation felt saddened.
He said the government had taken various measures to ensure foolproof security to protect the lives of Chinese workers in Pakistan.
“I will spare no effort to protect the lives of Chinese workers and assure and guarantee that we will provide them security more than our children. This will never happen again,” he assured.
In his remarks, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar sharing a past account of Pakistan’s good track record of economic performance being 24th largest economy, said the frequent change of governments and political uncertainty led to serious setbacks in the program.
However, he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a very clear roadmap featuring an export-led growth coupled with industrialization and import-substitution driven industry with a core idea to reduce the fiscal deficit.
The deputy prime minister highlighted the country’s potential in IT, agriculture, mining and minerals and said that the Business Forum was different from the previous typical events as it featured matchmaking of business entities from Pakistan and China.
He urged the Chinese businessmen to look into Pakistan’s potential and told them that the labor costs in Pakistan were very competitive. Besides, for facilitation and smooth processing of investment, the Special Investment Facilitation Council has been formed under the prime minister with all relevant ministries and provincial chief ministers working under one umbrella for the purpose.
“This is the high time you considered B2B joint ventures. The outline is clear. We are going for a deep structural economic transformation. We are working on a fast track to reach the target of joining G20. You will see, the government will be exiting from business,” he remarked.
He urged the Chinese firms to participate in the privatization process of around 84 state-owned enterprises under consideration.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb highlighting the country’s overall economic outlook told the gathering that all economic indicators were in the right direction and with a positive trajectory.
“The agriculture GDP growth during this fiscal year of 6.25% is a real bright spot,” he said.
He said on the current account side, remittances had held ground and the exports have moved up not only in terms of traditional sectors of textile but also agriculture, on the back of bumper crops, and Information Technology.
The finance minister said that the country’s current account deficit was going to be less than a billion dollars during this fiscal.
He said that Pakistan was in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a longer and larger programme, which was crucial to ensure permanence in microeconomic stability and to execute the structural changes.
In his opening remarks, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Beijing Khalil Hashmi said the Forum would pave the new pathway for economic and trade cooperation.
He said the Forum had been organised in the city considering its remarkable growth, innovation culture and and global reputation for Shenzhen Speed.
He said the conference, attended by around 500 business leaders from Pakistan and China, would also provide an opportunity for the businessmen of both sides to network and forge mutually beneficial ventures.
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