Daily Times

Federal Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday $25 billion of energy and infrastructure projects had almost been implemented in his country under the first phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project (CPEC) while praising the strong strategic ties between the two countries.

Iqbal arrived in Beijing earlier in the day with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and was received by Pakistan’s ambassador Khalil Hashmi and senior Chinese officials.

This is the first high-level Pakistani visit to China since the country’s new government came into power.

“China is Pakistan’s historic friend who has stood by us in tough times,” the Pakistani minister quoted as saying in an official statement.

“He noted that projects worth $25 billion under the first phase of CPEC were nearing completion in Pakistan, primarily upgrading the energy and infrastructure sectors,” it continued. “The second phase of CPEC will focus on promoting agriculture, industry, green energy and technology sectors.

Iqbal’s visit is expected to pave the way for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to China and the 13th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting between the two countries, scheduled for May.

The two events were mentioned in an official statement issued in Islamabad last month that announced Pakistan’s preparations.

The JCC meetings are crucial for both countries, providing them platform to discuss and finalize plans for projects spanning across several sectors including energy, infrastructure, transportation, and more recently, agriculture and technology.

The JCC aims to enhance bilateral cooperation and ensure the smooth execution of projects, which are intended to boost socio-economic development in Pakistan.

Each JCC meeting often results in the signing of memoranda of understanding and agreements to launch new projects or continue progress on ongoing ones.

Beijing is investing over $65 billion in energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of CPEC, a significant component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

This initiative aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea, enabling Islamabad to expand and modernize its economy through a developed network of roads, railways, pipelines, and ports.

Pakistan’s planning minister has invited China to collaborate with Islamabad in setting up industrial zones to manufacture electric cars amid a renewed push to attract foreign investment, state news agency APP reported on Wednesday.

The government of Pakistan approved an ambitious National Electric Vehicles Policy (NEVP) in 2019 with the goal of electric vehicles comprising 30 percent of all passenger vehicle and heavy-duty truck sales by 2030, and an even more ambitious target of 90 percent by 2040. For two- and three-wheelers, as well as buses, the policy set a goal of achieving 50 percent of new sales by 2030 and 90 percent by 2040.

In a meeting with Chinese officials on Tuesday, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal invited them to collaborate on the production of electric cars.

“He emphasized Pakistan’s aim to establish industrial zones for the manufacturing of electric cars in collaboration with China, leveraging Pakistan’s competitive advantage to reduce overall production costs and create employment opportunities for Pakistani workers,” APP reported.

Earlier this year, Sazgar Engineering, one of Pakistan’s leading car manufacturers, unveiled the electric vehicle “ORA 3,” manufactured in collaboration with Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motors (GWM).

The urban areas of Pakistan exhibit some of the world’s highest levels of air pollution, primarily due to sub-2.5 µm particulate emissions. This issue significantly impairs both the country’s economy and the quality of life of its residents. Road transport is a significant contributor to air pollution as around 23 percent of Pakistan’s greenhouse gas emissions originate from vehicles.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also met a delegation of Japanese industrialists in Islamabad and invited them to invest in Pakistan’s electric automotive industry.

“There is a wide potential for investment in the electric vehicle industry in Pakistan and Japanese companies with the best technology can take full advantage of it,” Sharif told the Japanese group.