Chinese investment firm to set up textile parks in Pakistan, targeting $5 billion in exports

ISLAMABAD: Chinese investment company RUYI Shangdong will set up textile parks in Pakistan and invite around 100 Chinese textile companies to invest in the facilities, a statement from the prime minister’s office said on Friday.

The Board of Investment and RUYI on Friday signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoU) for this project, under which the first park will be inaugurated later this year and completed in three years.

These parks are expected to export $2 billion worth of products in the first phase and another $5 billion in the second phase, which will create 300,000 to 500,000 local jobs, the release said.

The MoU was signed as a nine-member delegation of the RUYI Group headed by Chairman QiuYafu. Chinese officials also had a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who also oversaw the signing ceremony.

The two neighboring nations have long been close allies, and Islamabad relies heavily on Beijing for its development and economic projects.

The statement said the park will operate on automatic zero-carbon technology using solar energy.

RUYI already operates a coal-fired power plant in the Sahiwal district of Punjab province in eastern Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz also formed a special committee under deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar comprising federal ministers for commerce, investment and privatization, industries and production, a foreign minister, a representative of the Special Investment Facilitation Board and Zafaruddin Mehmood.

Dar, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Industries and Production Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, Power Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari and relevant senior officials attended the meeting.

Shaanxi companies were invited to invest in energy sectors

Meanwhile, Federal Petroleum Minister Dr Musadik Malik on Friday called on Chinese companies, especially those from Shaanxi province, to invest in Pakistan’s energy and oil sectors, adding that oil and coal companies from the country are seeking to partner with Shaanxi.

In his opening speech at the China (Shaanxi)-Pakistan Conference on Economic and Trade Cooperation on the sidelines of the 8th International Silk Road Expo in Xi’an Shaanxi Province, he said: “Top companies from Pakistan specializing in upstream, midstream and downstream oil and coal companies were trying to work with Shaanxi companies to cooperate through investment, joint ventures and technology transfer.’

The minister said the 8th International Silk Road Expo was not just a celebration of trade and investment. It was a celebration of the spirit of cooperation that defines the relationship between Pakistan and China.

Beijing is developing road, rail and port infrastructure in Pakistan as part of its $65 billion investment called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).