Punjab ready to act as base for manufacturing industries

LAHORE: Punjab is ready to act as the forward manufacturing base for industries of China and other countries, an official said on Tuesday.

The provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal said that there was a need of focusing on industrial cooperation, increasing agriculture production, value-addition, and business connectivity in all sectors of the economy.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Punjab Chapter China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Industrial Cooperation and B2B (business to business) Investment Conference.

The minister said that the CPEC has created investment opportunities not only for China and Pakistan but also for the whole world.

“Industrial collaboration and mutual cooperation in the socio-economic segments will help us to create a win-win situation for our people. China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA-II) signed during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China in 2019, will open new avenues for enhancing bilateral trade and addressing the trade deficit issue,” Iqbal said.

“We must work more closely to benefit from the full potential of CPEC and CPFTA II and other regional cooperation frameworks”, he added.

“We should take steps for promoting and highlighting the investment regime, industrialization framework, and the available opportunities of Punjab. We look for more investments from China especially in the value addition, agriculture, IT, and low-cost housing sector.”

“We also want to invite investors from around the world to take the advantage of this opportunity created under the CPEC and become partners in our growth journey. We are offering a competitive environment to attract foreign direct investment,” he said.

Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Mohammad Azfar Ahsan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on CPEC Khalid Mansoor also addressed the conference, while Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong and Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haque shared their view through video link.