China can help Pakistan overcome energy crisis

ISLAMABAD: Chinese help is vital to overcome the energy crisis for smooth manufacturing and industrial activities.

The President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Zahid Maqbool, said this while talking to a four-member delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs on Tuesday.

He urged China to come forward and help Pakistan in overcoming the energy crisis. Maqbool said that the energy shortage has become a major problem hampering economic growth.

He added that Pakistan was endowed with huge alternative energy resources including hydro, coal, wind, solar and waste energy. A combination of Chinese capital and expertise and Pakistani talent was the best option to fully exploit these renewable energy resources, he said.

Maqbool gave the delegation a comprehensive briefing on the investment potential in different sectors of economy. These included energy, steel, oil and gas, minerals, infrastructure development, information technology, electrical and electronics, automobile, mass transit communication network and agro-based industries. He stressed that Chinese investors should put their money in these areas to earn lucrative returns.

He said that Pakistan and China, in the recent past, had identified many new areas for joint collaboration and signed more than three dozen MoUs. He hoped that these measures will pave way for taking the bilateral trade between the two countries up to US$15 billion in the near future.

Wang Yicai, the delegation head and the chairman of Hubei Dayu Electric Group of China, said that close cooperation between China and Pakistan in the fields of military, economy and technology was in the best interest of the people of both countries and the region at large.

He said they were on an exploratory visit to Pakistan to find new partners so that they could make better contribution to strengthening Pakistan’s economy.