He said that the establishment and operationalization of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in all of the provinces was a top priority and the progress in this regard was being closely monitored.
The SEZs would act as a catalyst in increasing the growth of local manufacturing, Umar maintained. Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing appreciated the Government of Pakistan's efforts to fast track the CPEC projects. He expressed his desire to put special focus on rail transport, hydel power projects, social sector development projects and B2B collaboration between the two countries.
Jing further stated that China would also consider investing in the low-cost housing programme.
The Chinese ambassador said that the meetings of some of the JWGs would be held through video conferencing to ensure preparation for the upcoming JCC meeting without any delay.
The Minister for Planning, Asad Umar, also said that the provincial and the federal governments were highly interested in the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project and discussed the latest developments regarding the project.
He emphasized the need to increase B2B collaboration in banking, telecom and digital finance, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The ambassador assured the minister that the Chinese side was keen to promote such relationships between businesses and manufacturing industries.-PR