March 17, 2006	Friday	Safar 16, 1427

ISLAMABAD, March 16: Deputy Director General of Ministry of Commerce of China Mrs Liu Yingjun said on Thursday that the Chinese government encouraged public and private sector to actively take part in Pakistani based projects.

She stated this while talking to Secretary Board of Investment (BoI) Jehangir Bashir. Mrs Yingjun was visiting Pakistan at the head of a six member delegation to identify areas for further cooperation.

According to an official announcement the Chinese director general said that the objective of her visit was to strengthen cooperation between the corporate entities of the two countries in the manufacturing sector.

She pointed out that the Chinese companies established in Pakistan were greatly facilitated by the government especially, by the BoI and this had encouraged more Chinese companies to consider investment in Pakistan.

The director general said that China-Pakistan economic cooperation had strengthened day by day. Haier and ZTE companies had already established their industries in Pakistan and were willing to bring more relevant investment to Pakistan.

The BoI secretary briefed the delegation on the economic and investment policies of the government. He said that Pakistan provided the friendliest environment to foreign investors, which was evident from the fact that over 600 multinationals were operating in Pakistan and not a single company which came to Pakistan had rolled back.

Mr Bashir pointed out that unfortunately despite the time-tested friendship on the political and diplomatic front, economic cooperation between the two countries remained insignificant.

He hoped that the recently inked agreements between China and Pakistan would boost bilateral trade in various fields and enhance economic ties.

He said as China was now looking for expanding its investment abroad, given the geographical location, cheaper cost of production, economic reforms, liberal investment policies, abundant human resource and above all a local market of 150 million people, Pakistan is an ideal place for China to invest.