Business group calls for acceleration of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s holds its first meeting on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Islamabad, Pakistan, January 6, 2025.
A Pakistani business group has called for the “swift and timely” execution of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as they said that these were vital for Pakistan’s economic prosperity and industrial growth.
Key trade and business figures met at the first meeting of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Monday, according to The CPEC Daily, a news website focusing on the CPEC.
Saud Faisal Malik, CEO of The Daily CPEC and convener of the FPCCI committee, said at the meeting that the timely execution of these projects goes beyond infrastructure development and energy growth. It is also a crucial driver of job creation and a means to unlock new economic opportunities, he said.
“One of our key priorities is to attract more investment into Pakistan as CPEC offers unparalleled opportunities in sectors like education, technology and industrial development.
“We will work on formulating recommendations for incentivizing investments, including tax incentives, streamlined regulatory processes and investment-friendly policies,” he added.
The CPEC, launched in 2013 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, is a major infrastructure program linking China and Pakistan.
In a speech in December 2024, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong said Chinese investment in CPEC had reached $25.4 billion. He said CPEC has helped to create 236,000 job positions, build 510 kilometers of highways and generate 8,000 megawatts of power.
Reference Link:- https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-01-12/Pakistani-business-group-says-CPEC-projects-vital-for-economy-1A2Yk9gVVpS/p.html
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
