LAHORE: Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz has welcomed $700 million Chinese investment in Punjab.

The CM met a high-level Chinese delegation comprising Chengdu General Coordinator for ICT Hub Scarlett and Deputy CEO Huawei Yu Ray on Friday.

Chengdu expressed its consent to make an investment worth $700 million and she gave its principle approval.

“E-taxi service will be launched soon with the cooperation of Chengdu. A Chinese company will also establish a ‘Computing Centre’ in Lahore Nawaz Sharif IT City,” the meeting was told. In the meeting, it was agreed to establish a data and cloud centre in Nawaz Sharif IT City.

The Punjab government will provide land and building for the project. It was also agreed to establish the first e-commerce platform in Pakistan. The Chinese company will also impart training to the Pakistani youth for online worldwide trading. Smart control room, smart traffic control, smart transport, smart sanitation centre will be established in Lahore with the Chinese cooperation.

It was also briefed about the latest digital centre during their visit to China. An AI Industry Centre will also be established in phase two to introduce the youth with the artificial intelligence technology. The Chinese government will also provide assistance for platform service capacity building in Punjab. Providing assistance in local investment for the establishment of industries was also reviewed in phase-III.

A collaboration will also be made to introduce Pakistani youth with the modern technological requirements.

“We want to make Punjab the biggest artificial intelligence centre with the cooperation of China. Punjab will soon become an IT hub in the region and we want our youth to excel and surpass in the IT sector,” Ms Maryam said.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2025