Ambassador of China to Pakistan Yao Jing has said that good trade policies, low rate of taxes, tax incentives and business-friendly environment in Pakistan can attract huge Chinese investment. He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He said there is no quota restriction for Pakistani businessmen in China. The mutual trade can be enhanced through people to people direct contact.
Businessmen of both the countries should play their role to further increase bilateral trade, he added. The Chinese ambassador said that under the Joint Coordination Committee they are working on several projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) like power plants, railways, metro train, road infrastructure and Gwadar Port.
He said that Chinese government is also focusing on health, education, agriculture, water, poverty alleviation and socio economic development of less-developed areas like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said special economic zones are also underway which should be given priority because they would boost joint ventures, private to private cooperation, especially in manufacturing and socio-economic sectors of the country.
He added that 70-80 percent priority would be given to Pakistan's share with main focus to enhance exports of Pakistan. "There is a dire need to find ways to develop consistent policies and stable economic relations with each other. Our present level of trade seems to be the result of lack of knowledge about the mutual potential of Pakistani and Chinese economies," the ambassador added.
He also assured that the LCCI delegation visiting China in March would be extended full cooperation and support. LCCI President Almas Hyder said that bilateral trade figures are following increasing trend from the last four years. Since 2014, the average increase in imports from China is almost US 2 billion dollars per year. In contrast to that Pakistan's exports are constantly dipping for the last three years, he said.
Almas Hyder said that Prime Minister of Pakistan during his visit to China in November 2018 was assured that the Chinese government would offer special concessions to Pakistan to enhance exports. China and Pakistan have agreed upon sharing trade related data to address the issue of disparity in the figures of imports and exports between the two countries.
For example, Pakistan's imports from China in 2017 were shown as $15.4 billion on ITC website. When the base country is taken as China, the same source shows that China exported to the tune of $18.3 billion to Pakistan, he added. The LCCI president said that due to mis-declaration, both the countries are suffering losses therefore necessary measures should be taken to check it. Pakistan has not been able to reap full benefits of FTA with China in terms of exports as China has given better tariff rates to ASEAN countries.
Since FTA is being re-negotiated, there must be deliberations on these facts, he added. He also proposed formation of a task force comprising members of business community of Lahore and Chinese counterparts to address these concerns. He said due to the build up of unfavourable trade scenario for the Chinese companies in the USA, many of them are relocating to India, Vietnam and Cambodia but not to Pakistan that is surprising.