The real ‘Made in Pakistan’

Pakistan’s envoy invites Chinese enterprises to take advantage of SEZs

BEIJING:

“Pakistan and China have very special ties. It is a relationship between two friends, between two partners, between two brothers. No wonder, we call each other iron brothers,” said newly appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moinul Haque in an interview with economic daily China Economic Net (CEN) on September 4.

“It is a great honour for me to be appointed Pakistan’s ambassador to China. It will be my sincere endeavour with my wonderful team that I have at the embassy to contribute to this very important partnership and take it into the new era,” Haque told CEN reporter.

‘Vaccine is a public good’

Talking about his experience in the first month of his new duty, Haque mentioned the second strategic dialogue between China and Pakistan, which was held in August in south China’s Hainan province.

“It was a very, very important meeting after the visit of president of Pakistan to China in March,” he said.

“While thanking China for its very valuable support to us during the pandemic, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi appreciated the announcement made by Chinese President Xi Jinping that whenever a vaccine is developed, it would be considered a public good. And it should be accessible to all countries, especially the developing countries.”

ML-1 railway, a multiplier effect

Haque, in early August, posted two tweets in succession about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, namely the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Main Line-1 (ML-1) project of Pakistan Railways.

According to Pakistani media, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the construction of the dam had been the dream of Pakistani people for more than 40 years while attending the commencement ceremony of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

“The spectrum of Pakistan-China relationship is very broad and very deep. We cooperate in all areas from defence to security, from trade to investment, culture, education, science and technology, agriculture and tourism,” he said. “CPEC is a very important element of our relationship. It is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

He added that the government would make sure that all projects, the ongoing ones and those conceived in the early harvest and the first phase, are completed on time.

The cooperation in industrial development in phase-II is also in sync with the socio-economic development agenda of the current government, he said. “So, these will be some very important areas that I will be working on during my term,” Haque said.

Diamer-Bhasha Dam is also part of the prime minister’s vision to provide clean and affordable energy to the country and “we are very grateful to Chinese companies for taking a lead in the construction of this dam,” Haque told CEN.

“ML-1 is the largest project in CPEC. It will help provide economical and efficient inland travel in Pakistan. I think it will also be important as a multiplier effect for phase-II of CPEC.”

SEZ dividend

The tariff reduction arrangements for phase-II of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were officially implemented on January 1 this year.

Talking about China-Pakistan trade relations during Covid-19 pandemic, Haque pointed out that “first of all, we are very happy that China has posted a very positive and more than 3% growth in the second quarter.”

“Despite the pandemic, the first quarter of this year saw our bilateral trade increase,” he said. In the second quarter, there was a slight dip because of the disruption to international travel.

The updated FTA is very important. Over 300 items are now enjoying duty-free access to each other’s countries including fisheries and pharmaceuticals.

So, there are many opportunities for the traders of the two countries to work in this area, he stressed. “We hope that in the months and years to come, our trade will increase.”

Chinese companies have also been paying continuous attention to the implementation of preferential policies in Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs). In this regard, Haque said, “We have learned a lot from the Chinese experience of developing Special Economic Zones. Under CPEC, we have identified nine Special Economic Zones across Pakistan, three of which are now in advanced stage of preparation.”

“I … invite my Chinese friends and businessmen to come and take advantage of these Special Economic Zones. We are going to share all the details very soon.”

Pakistan’s fashion products

After fully expressing the necessity of agriculture sector modernisation, Haque introduced Pakistan’s service industry. “Like China and many other countries, our work and life were also affected by Covid-19,” he said. “There were new ideas, new concepts and new products. In Pakistan, we started making our own masks, testing kits and ventilators.”

It can be part of the health corridor that “we are talking about and we support the China-proposed initiative to create a health corridor”.

The pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan is very strong and the country’s surgical goods are some of the best in the world, he added. The envoy said that besides vaccines, Pakistan can produce other medicines and health equipment to promote cooperation. “Another area which I would like to mention is the automobile industry. China and Pakistan are working together to make brand new automobiles,” he underlined.

Learning curve

Answering various questions raised by the reporter, Haque shared his views on the learning curve and economic diplomacy.

“Slowly and steadily, Pakistani enterprises are reaching the stage where they can introduce brands and market products. Our pharmaceutical company, Martin Dow, set up two manufacturing plants in France,” he said.

“In a country like France, it is very important for Pakistani companies to go international and promote Pakistani products and brands. We are learning also, it is a learning curve for Pakistani businessmen.” The article originally appeared on the China Economic Net

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.

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