BEIJING: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday the government under its economic reforms agenda offers attractive incentives for investment and asked the Chinese entrepreneurs to take advantage of the friendly policies and set up labour intensive industry in Pakistan.

“The labour cost is very competitive and much less as compared to the current labour cost in China. Agriculture, textile, mining and information technology are the prime areas where there is a great scope to do business in Pakistan,” he said while speaking at the Pakistan-China Business Roundtable Conference organised by the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing.

Mr Dar said the government has expedited construction of special economic zones and offered attractive incentives for establishment of different industrial units. “We have worked out 13 key areas having great potential for the Chinese and Pakistani entrepreneurs to establish industry on an ownership basis or through joint venture with Pakistani business people,” he said.

The Chinese businessmen could enjoy preferential market access to major economies such as the European Union, the Gulf, China itself and other countries which have free trade agreements with Pakistan, he added.

He said there are competitive and lucrative incentives, especially in special economic zones, export processing zones, Gwadar free zone, and special technology zones.

The deputy prime minister highlighted that the process of privatising certain state-owned enterprises could also be looked into from the business point of view. He assured the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions in Pakistan and said that culprits of the Dasu terrorist attack would soon be brought to justice.

The foreign minister also met Chinese Minister for Finance Lan Foan and underlined Pakistan government’s reform agenda with a focus on governance, revenue, and ease of doing business to attract foreign direct investment.

He also emphasised Pakistan’s high priority to investments from China, and shared an overview of the priority sectors identified for this purpose, including agriculture, IT, mines and minerals and renewable energy.

The deputy prime minister and the Chinese minister expressed profound appreciation of Pakistan-China financial and banking cooperation, calling it a manifestation of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2024