BEIJING: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, while addressing an event in Beijing, expressed wish that he could follow the example of Chinese President Xi Jinping and send 500 corrupt individuals to jail in Pakistan.
The premier addressed China Council for Promotion of International Trade in Beijing and outlined that Pakistan has taken measures to facilitate businesses.
“One of President Xi Jinping’s biggest drives has been against corruption as I had heard that some 400 ministerial-level people had been convicted on charges of corruption and put behind jail in the past five years in China.”
“I wish I could follow President Xi’s example and put 500 corrupt people in Pakistan in jail,” he said. He appreciated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s campaign to eradicate corruption. However, he said that processing cases in Pakistan was “very cumbersome”. He termed corruption as one of the biggest hurdles to investment in a country.
Besides, PM Khan has invited Chinese companies to invest in the diverse sectors of Pakistan including housing, textile, manufacturing, information technology (IT) and financial services, physical and technological logistics, agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism and hospitality.
“The Prime Minister’s Office will dealing with the major investors in our country and CPEC will be dealt again from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“It’s an exciting time in Pakistan because as we open up our country for business, it is a great opportunity for people to come and invest, and as we change the mindset in Pakistan, we want businesses to come and make money.”
He assured that the PM Office would deal with all major investments including those of the CPEC. The PM mentioned to have established the CPEC Authority to resolve all outstanding issues hindering the implementation of the CPEC projects.
He said Gwadar smart port city master plan has been approved. “Work on the Gwadar airport is in progress and it will be completed soon […] we are now especially concentrating on our Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” he said.
Khan said Pakistan has been encouraging businesses to make big profits as stable
economy would enable the state to lift the people out of poverty on the pattern of China. He said the second phase of the CPEC would primarily focus on industrial and agriculture cooperation. He said Pakistan aims to learn from the experiences of China to enhance the productivity of our agriculture sector.
The PM said security situation has improved in Pakistan due to the efforts of security forces and intelligence agencies. “Pakistan is one of the safest places for investment in the world. We have established a special security force for the protection of Chinese workers.”
He said the present government has also liberalised the visa regime and the Chinese nationals could obtain visa-on-arrival at the international airports.
Alluding to the geostrategic location of Pakistan, Imran Khan said Pakistan’s unique location and its young and vibrant population has made it an attractive country for investment. He said our labor cost was only about 20 percent of that in China. The PM said his government has taken a conscious decision to ensure ease of doing businesses.
PM Khan hailed economic progress achieved by China, saying that it was an example for the whole world how the country has lifted 700 million people out of poverty over the last 30 years.
Importantly, the chairman of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation – the longest running construction group in China’s iron and steel industry – also called on the premier.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited the Chinese companies to invest in the diverse sectors of Pakistan including housing, textile, manufacturing, IT and financial services, physical and technological logistics, agriculture, oil and gas and tourism and hospitality.
He was speaking at China Council for Promotion of International Trade in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan is opening up for the businesses and it is great time for the Chinese companies to invest in the country.
He assured that the Prime Minister office will be dealing with all the major investments.
He said all the CPEC related investments will also be dealt from the PM office in order to remove all the hurdles in the way of investors.
Imran Khan said Pakistan is encouraging the businesses to make big profits as the wealth creation will enable us to lift the people out of poverty on the pattern of China.
Chairman China Gezhouba Group Lyu Zexiang called on Prime Minister in Beijing today and discussed cooperation in the energy sector.
The Chinese Group showed keen interest in exploring new business avenues in Pakistan especially in the energy sector.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Planning Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid, Adviser on Commerce Razaq Dawood, Special Assistant on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Zubair Gilani were also present in the meeting.
China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) is one of the most competitive listed companies with very strong financing capabilities. The Chinese group has expanded its business in more than one hundred countries and regions.
Meanwhile, CEO of Long March Tyre Company, Li Qingwen called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing.
Chaoyang Long March Tyre Co. Ltd. is a member of the Lianoning Tyre Group and is one of the best tyre manufacturers.
In the meantime, Chairman China Gezhouba Group Lyu Zexiang called on Prime Minister in Beijing today and discussed cooperation in the energy sector.
The Chinese Group showed keen interest in exploring new business avenues in Pakistan especially in the energy sector.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan held wide-ranging bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Tuesday.
The exchange of views particularly covered strengthening of bilateral economic partnership.
On his arrival, the Prime Minister was presented a guard of honour, accompanied by 19-gun salute. The Foreign Minister, Minister of Planning, Development and Reform, Minister of Railways, Advisor on Commerce, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Energy, and Chairman BoI, Chief of Army Staff, DG ISI, and other senior officials were present. The bilateral talks were followed by a banquet hosted by Premier Li.
Extending felicitations on the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Prime Minister underscored that the All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and China served the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples and contributed to peace, development and stability in the region.
Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized that expeditious completion of CPEC projects was the foremost priority of his government as this transformational project was pivotal to accelerating Pakistan’s economic development and regional prosperity. Premier Li was apprised of the actions undertaken recently to fast-track CPEC projects and to push the development momentum in Gwadar.
Premier Li underlined the salience of the abiding Pakistan-China relationship and reiterated China’s support for Pakistan’s issues of core national interest. Premier Li thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for the measures to advance CPEC projects and maintained that the second phase of CPEC will be instrumental in reinforcing and consolidating Pakistan’s economic development and pave the way for enhanced Chinese investments in Pakistan.- NNI