ISLAMABAD: A Chinese delegation has visited China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Secretariat, indicating Beijing is moving towards consultation on Business-to-Business (B2B) and industrial cooperation under CPEC-2, rather than making investments in Government-to-Government (G2G) projects.
During the first phase of CPEC, China invested nearly $30 billion in infrastructure projects and development of independent power producers (IPPs) in the power sector. Although Islamabad has not abandoned its efforts to secure financing for some roads and motorways, Beijing does not appear ready to finance ML-1, which was once considered flagship project of CPEC.
According to an official announcement issued by Ministry of Planning Tuesday, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives hosted a high-level delegation from China led by Sun Dongsheng, Senior Advisor, Economic Affairs Press. The delegation held consultations with Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, senior policymakers and development experts on advancing B2B and industrial cooperation under CPEC 2.0.
The minister briefed delegation on Uraan Pakistan’s national economic transformation agenda. He proposed active collaboration with Chinese counterparts of National Centre of New Manufacturing to learn from China’s experience in innovation, automation and robotics for Industrial Revolutions 4.0 and 5.0.
Minister Ahsan emphasised Pakistan’s biggest challenge was its narrow export base, which causes many economic take-offs to stall. He said government’s top priority was to transform Pakistan’s productive sectors into engines of exports.
He said China had helped Pakistan overcome its energy deficit under CPEC 1.0 and expressed hope CPEC 2.0 would help Pakistan overcome its export deficit.
He further emphasised the need to facilitate Pakistani exports to China, which imports nearly $2.6 trillion worth of goods annually, while Pakistan’s share remains very small at around $3 billion.
He said CPEC 2.0 was geared towards B2B cooperation. Recently, Pakistani and Chinese enterprises had entered into regional agreements in industrial, agricultural and mining sectors. He expressed hope greater B2B cooperation would enable CPEC 2.0 to achieve its goals of modernising Pakistan’s agriculture and industrial sectors.
Building on this emphasis on practical economic cooperation, Sun Dongsheng reaffirmed importance of China-Pakistan friendship. He spoke positively about achievements made under CPEC Phase I.
He stressed the need to deepen cooperation in industry and agriculture, strengthen productive capacity, encourage greater participation by small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, and expand enterprise-to-enterprise exchanges and mutually beneficial partnerships.
During the consultations, it was highlighted CPEC 2.0 marked a transition from infrastructure to industrialisation, from connectivity to competitiveness, from investment to productivity, and increasingly from government-to-government cooperation to deeper business-to-business partnerships.
The delegation highlighted strategic alignment between Five Corridors of CPEC 2.0 and Pakistan’s URAAN Pakistan 5Es framework, stressing importance of translating this alignment into enterprises, technology and innovation, jobs and skills, exports, investment and shared prosperity. The delegation was also briefed on progress and key achievements of CPEC Phase I and priorities of CPEC 2.0.
