Pakistan and China on Wednesday signed three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) covering supply of water from Tarbela to Islamabad, establishment of Special Economic Zone in the proposed new city Zulfikarabad in Sindh and the building of 6,000 flats in I-15 sector on private public partnership basis, and an agreement for the de-silting of canals and barrages in Sindh province.
The MoUs were signed by respective officials from the two sides and witnessed by President Asif Ali Zardari and members of his entourage here. The agreement on de-silting canals in Sindh was signed by Saleem Mandviwala, Chairman Board of Investment, with the President of China Harbour Engineering Company Limited.
The MoU on the establishment of Zulfikarabad Special Economic Zone was signed by Managing Director Zulfikarabad Development Authority Lieutenant General (Retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Yang Yong, Chairman of the Sichuan Huantong Holding Investment Limited.
The MoU for water supply to Islamabad from Tarbela was signed by Farkhand Iqbal, Chairman Capital Development Authority, and Zhang Chun, President of China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC), the former also signed another MoU for building 6000 flats and developing Sector I-15 in Islamabad with another Chinese company CRFG (China Railway First Group).
Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar while giving details of the agreement and MoUs, said that with the signing of the memorandums and agreement today, a fresh impetus has been provided to further strengthening the economic engagement between the two countries.
The President also held separate meetings with the four leading Chinese business executives inviting them to take advantage of the investment friendly policies of the Government and to further extend their business ventures in all the sectors, especially in the areas of energy, oil and gas, mining, engineering goods, electronics, chemicals, infrastructure, telecommunications, IT and agriculture.
Senator Babar said that the President highlighted to the Chinese business executives great investment opportunities present in Pakistan and invited them to further extend their business ventures in the country assuring them government''s all possible facilitation to the Chinese personnel. He said that the business community must take advantage of some very important recent developments between the two countries such as currency swap agreement, the 2nd five-year trade and economic programme and the opening of Chinese Bank branches in Pakistan.
The first meeting in the series was held with Chairman of Orient Group/United Energy Group Zhang Hongwei. The President during the meeting appreciated Orient Group''s existing investment in Pakistan in the area of oil, gas exploration and alternate energy and called for greater investment in the energy sector. He invited the company again to set up an oil refinery at Karachi Port as the company has the required competence for undertaking such a project. It may be recalled that the President has been continuously inviting the Chinese companies to undertake projects involving onshore and offshore drilling for oil and gas as well as for reactivating the depleted and abandoned oil and gas fields in different parts of the country.
In a meeting with Zhang during his visit to Pakistan this May, the President had proposed him to consider undertaking the refinery project. He reiterated the government''s commitment to provide all possible facilitation to the Chinese companies in their business ventures.
The President said that the untapped tremendous natural resources potential of Pakistan offered great opportunities to the Chinese investors and entrepreneurs not only to get economic benefits but also to help in transforming the traditional Pak-China all weather friendship into a comprehensive economic engagement. After meeting with the Chairman Orient Group, the President met Ren Hongbin, Chairman of China National Machinery Industry Corp (SINOMACH), the largest machinery manufacturer in China.
During the meeting with Hongbin, the President highlighted that the 2nd Pakistan-China 5-year for trade and economic cooperation programme, launched in 2012 with 36 projects worth more than 10 billion US dollars in the Energy, Transport, Infrastructure, ICT, Industry, Water, Education, Environment, Health, Education and Agriculture, offered great opportunities to the companies such as SINOMACH as these companies had the required potential for undertaking mega projects in these areas.
The President while noting with satisfaction the association of CMEC a subsidiary of SINOMACH- with various projects in Pakistan, including machinery and equipment for the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project, expressed the hope that the company would be able to explore more economic opportunities in Pakistan, especially in the projects of building new dams in Pakistan.
He invited the company to invest in the projects of infrastructure, construction of highways and railways and setting up of new industries with Chinese assistance in China specific industrial zones. The President especially invited their attention to Zulfikarabad city project which offered great business opportunities to the foreign investors. The President also invited SINOMACH to make investments in the Capital Goods industry in Pakistan with technology transfer and help in developing the industrial base of Pakistan.
During meeting with Cao Guangjing of Three Gorges Project Corporation, the third meeting in the series, the President remarked that the Three Gorges Dam Project was a living testament to the genius and vision of the Chinese people and their leadership.
The President said that the Pakistan government, in view of future scarcity of water, intends to invest in the water sector for conservation of the water resources. While appreciating the interest of the company in building the Bunji, Kohala, Karot and the Diamer Bhasha dam projects and the wind Power and Thar Coal power projects, the President invited them to participate in constructing small and medium sized dams, which he said, were critical for the socio-economic development of those regions of the country.
The President said that Pakistan was keen to learn from the Chinese experience of growth in every field, especially in the area of hydro-power generation, wind power, and coal technologies. He reiterated the government''s assurance of all possible support and facilitation to the Three Gorges Dam Project Company in the construction of dams and alternate energy projects in the country.
The fourth meeting in the series was held with Shi Li Rong, President of ZTE. During the meeting, the President appreciated ZTE''s role in the development of Pakistan''s Telecommunication sector. He reiterated his call that ZTE could further help Pak telecommunication sector by helping in technical skills development of the local labour force.
The establishment of a R&D Centre and setting up of mobile handsets manufacturing facility in Pakistan would further help promote Pak-China cooperation in the telecom sector, the President suggested to Shi Li Rong. Chen Qiufa, Administrator State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry (SASTIND) and Chairman China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOC) also called on the President.
Matters relating to promoting mutual cooperation in the respective areas were discussed during the meeting. Those, who were present during the meetings, included among others Dr Asim Hussain, Petroleum Minister, M Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Kamal Majidullah, SAPM, Saleem H Manviwala, Chairman BoI, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani and spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar.