PM Shehbaz invites Chinese businesses to invest in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday held a meeting with the senior executives of prominent Chinese enterprises in Beijing. He invited Chinese businesses to invest in Pakistan and set up industries in Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, talks focused on boosting business-to-business cooperation in various key sectors including textiles, information technology, agriculture, mining and minerals, road and digital connectivity, e-commerce and space technologies.
Shehbaz highlighted reforms introduced by his government, citing tax incentives for investors, relaxed visa policies for Chinese nationals and dedicated airport booths to facilitate business travel.
He underscored the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) as a platform to accelerate investment, remove obstacles and strengthen business-to-business ties.
“Industrial cooperation is the cornerstone of Pakistan-China economic ties and a pillar of the high-quality development of CPEC’s second phase,” Shehbaz said.
The prime minister informed the Chineese business executives that Pakistan offers a unique advantage of skilled and low-cost labour, affordable raw materials for industrial output, and strategic connectivity with regional and global markets.
Shehbaz assured Chinese businesses of a supportive investment climate. He stressed that increased investment in SEZs would reinforce the vision of CPEC as a driver of regional development, innovation and shared prosperity.
PM Shehbaz reached Tianjin on Saturday to attend the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit, which held from August 31 to September 1.
Shehbaz Sharif underscored the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) issue at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in China and called for “dialogue, diplomacy and consultation” instead of confrontation on all outstanding disputes.
Apart from Pakistan, the SCO comprises of China, India, Russia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Another 16 countries are affiliated with the organisation as observers or “dialogue partners”.
“We respect all international and bilateral treaties and expect similar principles to be followed by all SCO members,” said Shehbaz as the summit concluded, referring to India’s unilateral move to the hold the IWT in abeyance in April.