ISLAMABAD: Senate Defence Committee Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Wednesday decried the US policies and said reviving the old ‘Cold War’ policies against China would not be beneficial for any country or region.

“There are worrying voices that speak about the new cold war, but that is not the right direction for the world, and the so-called democracy summit organised by the US failed to address the real issues,” he said while addressing the launch of the first All Pakistan Chinese Enterprises Association’s (APCEA) Sustainable Development Report 2021.

The APCEA has 201 members belonging to wide-ranging sectors, including port operations, power generation, transmission, telecom, auto, consumer electronics, trade and finance.

Senator Sayed said the ‘Strategic Competition Act’ was recently passedby the US Senate under which Washington had allocated $300 million for ‘Countering China Influence Fund’.

He also criticised the boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics by certain western countries, terming it biased and based on double standards, adding that mixing sports with political agenda was not fair for either of the two.

Sanjrani calls for learning from the Chinese model and promoting industrialisation

He said Pakistan would not be part of it and Prime Minister Imran Khan will participate in the winter olympics, adding that 2022 was the year of Pakistan’s Platinum Jubilee in which Pakistan-China ties had always been centre-stage.

“Against this backdrop, I advise the Chinese companies in Pakistan to brace themselves for any disinformation campaign,” he said.

Senator Sayed said the APCEA report would serve the purpose of presenting facts and nullifying the fiction being propagated by the adversaries of China about CPEC.

Speakers appreciated the role of APCEA and highlighted that CPEC and development projects were not only beneficial for Pakistan’s economy, but had been executed at the highest international standards relating to pollution control and eco-friendly technologies.

They highlighted the CSR activities of the APCEA members and their long-term impact on local communities, including empowering the backward and largely uneducated women of Tharparkar and encouraging them to drive 100-tonne dumber trucks.

The report highlighted the CSR activities by members in local areas that included investments in health, education and measures for prevention against Covid-19.

In his keynote speech, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said CPEC was a game changer and the projects would create trade linkages and economic opportunities in the whole region.

He said contribution of manufacturing to Pakistan’s GDP was only 17 per cent, while it was around 39pc in China.

“Therefore, we need to learn from the Chinese model and promote industrialisation as it was the key to speedy growth,” Mr Sanjrani said, adding that, “CPEC phase–II will initiate an era of industrialisation in the country”. He said to harness the opportunities of this phase-II, “we need to enhance joint ventures and coordination with Chinese enterprises”.

Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, APCEA Chairman Yang Jiandou, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Khalid Mansoor and others also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2022