CPEC NEWS Archives - Page 57 of 58

China denounces U.S. opposition to market economy status

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Saturday expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. opposition to granting it market economy status in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told Xinhua Friday that the United States had submitted a statement of opposition to the WTO as a third-party brief in support of the European Union (EU) in a case brought by China arguing the “surrogate country approach” should be dropped after the expiration date.

“China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposes the rejection, as the U.S. government tried to mix the concepts of the surrogate country approach and market economy status to mislead the public,” the MOC said in a statement.

When China joined the WTO, members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on their “non-market economy” list, which includes China.

In accordance with Article 15 of the accession protocol, the surrogate country approach expires on Dec. 11, 2016.

The case has nothing to do with whether China has been granted market economy status or not as there are no standards in WTO rules for the status, the MOC said, urging all members to drop the practice.

When the approach expired last year, some member nations, including Japan and the United States, indicated they would not honor their commitments with no plans to change their trade policies. The MOC has warned that their refusal would put trade ties with China at risk.

Source: Peoples Daily, 4th Dec 2017.

December 5, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Chinese entrepreneurs show interest in JVs, investment

ISLAMABAD – A delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs , led by Adven Zhu, Managing Director of Suzhou China Aviation Technology Equipment Co Ltd, visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and wanted to enter into joint ventures JVs and investment in Pakistan in areas of interest.

The delegation represented various sectors including infrastructure development, construction of roads, bridges, high rise buildings, IT, manufacturing of mechanical products, cold-bend steel, elevator components, mechanical components, plastic injections, furniture and tourism.

Speaking at the occasion, Adven Zhu, Head of Chinese delegation, said that this was their first visit to Pakistan and they found Pakistan a potential market for business and investment , adding that it has a big consumer market and strategic geographic location. He said that the Chinese delegation members have good expertise and technology to build high rise buildings and were interested to make some useful contribution in this area. He said that the private sectors of both countries should develop close cooperation to exploit all untapped areas of mutual collaboration.

Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that CPEC has opened new avenues for long term cooperation between China and Pakistan and stressed that private sectors of both countries should enhance interactions to explore matchmakings in CPEC and other developmental projects in Pakistan.

He said that many sectors of Pakistan’s economy including infrastructure development, high rise buildings, aviation, steel, aluminum, all sorts of machinery & parts, manufacturing of plastic products, construction & real estate, furniture, hardware, tourism and others were opened for foreign investors and urged that Chinese investors should explore these potential sectors for JVs and investment in Pakistan. He said that Chinese investors should bring technology and machinery to Pakistan to set up manufacturing plants. He said by investing in Pakistan, Chinese investors would be in a better position to enhance exports to South & Central Asia, Middle East, Europe and many other potential markets.

Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice President, and Nisar Mirza, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry also spoke at the occasion and hoped that the visit of Chinese business delegation to Pakistan would lead to materialization of some good business deals between the entrepreneurs of both countries.

Source: The Nation, 3rd Dec 2017.

December 5, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

APBF to hold a conference on ‘Economy, skill workforce’ on Monday

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) is organising a high-level conference titled “Pakistan at crossroads; Economy, Skill Workforce Development, Country Narrative- How to refresh” on Monday, December 04, 2017 in Islamabad.

The conference is aimed at setting up a roadmap and come up with an implementation strategy for high economic growth of the country and a prosperous Pakistan.

The core committee of the APBF noted industrialists, entrepreneurs, government officials, World Bank experts and prominent economists will attend different thought-provoking sessions to find effective solutions to the challenges faced by the country. Besides, Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Pakistan, Ambassador of Italy, Germany, Egypt, Spain, Saudi Arabia, British Deputy High Commissioner and Deputy Economic Counselor of the US Embassy will also be part of panel discussions, specially arranged in the APBF moot.

APBF President Ibrahim Qureshi observed that the security situation has significantly improved in the country which should be highlighted across the world. “Undoubtedly, we are the nation with great spirits and we need to highlight exceptional things about Pakistan.”

He said that the distinguished diplomats living and working in Pakistan can give a true picture of Pakistan to their respective countries to bring investment in Pakistan through portraying a positive picture.

He said that the moot will discuss several issues, including the current state of Pakistan economy, ease of doing business, opportunities and challenges.

The speakers in the conference will also deliberate on the importance of skilled workforce to increase productivity and exports, industry requirements, its future trends and efforts by international partners in this area.

Ibrahim Qureshi said that since 2008, Pakistan has recorded low level of foreign direct investment owing to persistent energy crises, security challenges and poor governance. Nevertheless, now the situation has started to recover as investors’ confidence is all time high due to opportunities arising from CPEC, better availability of energy resources and improved security situation in the country.

He said that Pakistan offers huge opportunities for investment in textile, energy, infrastructure, metal and minerals, agriculture, power, transportation, automobiles, telecommunications and services sector.

Source: Pakistan Today, 2nd Dec 2017.

December 5, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Solar energy adoption could save Pakistan around 6,000MW of electricity

3,003,000MW of electricity could also be saved by switching agricultural tube-wells over to solar system0 electricity could also be saved by switching agricultural tube-wells over to solar system

LAHORE: Promotion of solar energy can save up to 6,000 megawatts of electricity of the national grid, besides reducing load from the power distribution system.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Pakistan (IEEEP) President Engineer Mohsin M Syed expressed these views at the 37th Annual General Meeting of the IEEEP held at a local hotel on Sunday.

He cited that every Pakistani could install solar energy system of one to five kilowatts capacity that could save up to 3,000MW load on the distribution system. This quantum of saved energy could be diverted to industrial sector thus enabling it to enhance its productions as well as generate more employment opportunities, he maintained.

Mohsin said that another 3,000MW could also be saved by switching agricultural tube-wells over to solar energy system. In this connection, he suggested the government to enhance the net metering agreement period from three to seven years and allow this agreement among three parties instead of the only two.

He mentioned that Pakistan is running short of around 6,000 megawatts of electricity, while 45 percent area of the country was yet to be connected with national grid. He said Pakistan would have to enhance its inexpensive electricity generation capacity up to 50,000 megawatts by year 2030.

In his address, former Wapda chairman Shamsul Mulk said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a game changer for Pakistan not only regionally but also geographically, and Pakistan will attain the status of an ‘Asian Tiger’ through this vital project.

He said that engineers must be accustomed with ultra-modern technologies to bring Pakistan at par with most developed countries. He was of the view that professional affairs experts would have to be incorporated in the technical institutions and management to ensure speedy economic development in Pakistan.

Enumerating the benefits of water reservoirs to cater the country’s water needs and hydro power generation, he stressed the need for initiating construction work on Kala Bagh Dam (KBD) without any further delay.

So far, the country had to bear an accumulative loss of Rs180 billion-Rs100 billion to Punjab, Rs50 billion to Sindh and Rs30 billion to KP – in the absence of KBD, he added. Mulk said that India caused water and electricity shortage by stopping Pakistani waters in its territory.

IEEEP Honorary Secretary General Engineer Dr Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan presented the institute’s annual reports and highlighted its activities. He also stressed the need for promotion of energy resources of solar, wind and biomass, and said the IEEEP would also have to focus on modern researches in the field of alternate energy resources.

On the occasion, nine engineers, including Saniya Owais, Wajahat Saeed Rana, Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan, Gulraiz Akhtar Mughal, Muhammad Ishaq, Rao Muhammad Afzal and Mujahid Islam were presented the best performance award. The annual general meeting also approved the IEEEP ‘s budget, balance sheet and performance. Many IEEEP members, prominent engineers from public and private sector attended the event.

Source: Pakistan Today, 4th Dec 2017.

December 5, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Pakistan’s Afghanistan nightmare and the BRI

In reflecting on its future, Kabul seems to have not looked at the world map. It seems to not even be aware of its immediate neighbourhood. There are developments taking place around its borders that could completely isolate the country. Or, conversely, these developments could bring Afghanistan into the world and the 21^st century. I am here referring to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by President Xi Jinping four years ago while on a visit to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. There, he announced that China will fund the development of the Old Silk Road that was once the main artery of commerce between Europe and China.

Two years later, President Xi arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan and agreed to implement a development programme that was to be called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. This programme will bring in at least $50 billion worth of Chinese investments into Pakistan over the next decade and a half. While its initial focus will be on increasing power generation in order to relieve Pakistan’s grave energy shortage, ultimately it is the highway corridor that will bring about real change. Eventually Pakistan will become an important component of a network of highways that will connect China with the world to its west. However, for three reasons Afghanistan is not at this time included as a component in this large, trillion dollar endeavour.

The first is Kabul’s inability to govern all parts of the country. Afghanistan was never a centralised state but the central authority is now weaker than ever before. Almost half of the country’s territory is with the Taliban. The Islamic State, having been mostly dislodged from Iraq and Syria, is now looking at Afghanistan to revive its political fortunes.

Second, Kabul has opted to rely on the United States for bringing peace to the long war-torn country. President Donald Trump has reversed the position taken by Barack Obama, his predecessor in the White House. Obama had set a time limit to his country’s presence in Afghanistan. Trump has signalled his intention to stay on as long as the Taliban and other extremists are not beaten. This may mean indefinitely. The new Afghan policy announced by the American president in August of this year will only bring more war to the already war-torn nation. Third, Afghanistan is not making a serious effort to work with Pakistan. In fact, the government headed by Ashraf Ghani finds it convenient to blame Pakistan for its problems.

This is also the line adopted by the Trump administration. On October 24^th, Secretary of State Rex W Tillerson made a short stop in Islamabad on his way to New Delhi. In the few hours he spent in the Pakistani capital he scolded the country’s leadership. He was reported to have told the Pakistani policymakers: “Stop funding or providing shelter to terrorist groups. Now.” According to one account: “It is a message the United States has been giving the Pakistanis in various forms since the September 11 attacks, and it is one the Pakistanis have by turns harkened to, bristled at and shrugged off — sometimes in the same meeting — for yeas.” Washington’s policy community also shows exasperation with Pakistan. “What do you do when your allies are part of the problem?” asks Daniel L Byman, a counterterrorism expert at Georgetown University. “The desire to turn our backs on these people is there, but then you worry that terrorists will have more operational freedom and it will cost you more in the long-run.”

Rather than participate in scolding Pakistan for not helping to bring peace to their country, the Afghan leadership should take a good look at the way their neighbourhood is changing. The change underway involves China. What promises to be a bustling centre of international commerce is going up on the Chinese side of the border with Kazakhstan at a place called Khorgos. The long road being built to connect this city-in-the-making will carry Chinese merchandise to Europe while bringing into China the products of Central Asia, including the region’s minerals. To the country’s south three parallel highways are being constructed that will connect the deep-water port of Gwadar with Kashghar, the old Central Asian town in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

What is missing in these plans are north-south links that should run through Afghanistan. If that were to happen, Afghanistan could become one of the main arteries of commerce than a place that breeds extremists and terrorist. While that could happen, prolonged struggle for controlling the country could isolate Afghanistan. Once again a look at the map would help Kabul’s policymakers.

The BRI plans include eventually a road that in the east would connect Pakistan with Khorgos, bypassing Afghanistan. In the west, a road could link Gwadar in Pakistan with the China-Kazakhstan corridor, crossing Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. With these projects, Afghanistan would be left out of the economic plans that are being drawn up for developing Central and West Asia. For Afghanistan to be included, Kabul would need to focus on nation-building involving all segments of the population and all parts of the country. This is the direction the leaders of Afghanistan need to take rather than continue to indulge in a blame-game directed at Pakistan. Afghanistan has been Islamabad’s nightmare ever since Pakistan’s birth 70 years ago. The nightmare needs to end and that would need changes in two policies: for Afghanistan to take much more responsibility for what is happening in the country and, two, for Pakistan to undertake some honest discourse with the Afghan leadership.

Source: The Express Tribune, 27th Nov 2017.

December 1, 2017/2 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Iran-Pakistan ties: impact on CPEC

Since the inception of Pakistan, Iran-Pakistan relations were on even keels throughout the early decades. The two countries were cooperative from 1947-1979, while the Shah of Iran still reign. Pakistan’s Balochistan province is pivotal in relations between the two countries because the Baloch population is present in both countries. Even in the 1971 war, Pakistan was provided assistance through the provision of military hardware, intelligence and logistics by Iran along with Syria and Jordan. Furthermore, Pakistan also played an influential role in ending the Iran-Iraq war. Unfortunately, relations between the two countries declined during the 1990’s.

The Afghan Taliban’s sectarianism was one of the reasons relations between the two countries failed to remain cordial. The fact that the Taliban (which was backed by Pakistan) was targeting Shias in Afghanistan put Pakistan in the spotlight. The situation deteriorated further when the Taliban killed Iranian diplomats in northern Afghanistan in 1998. Following this, many prominent Shia figures were targeted in terrorist attacks. The Iranian consulate was targeted twice in Peshawar. A senior Iranian diplomat was abducted from the same city in 2009. It was obvious to Iran that the group behind these attack was being funded by the Saudis and supported by Pakistan. Pakistan was accused of not providing sufficient security to Iranian diplomats.

As a result of this, Indo-Iran ties emerged on one side, whereas Pakistan-Saudi ties emerged on the other. India’s desire to engage with Iran is fairly obvious; it would lead to the isolation of Pakistan and decrease Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan, while increasing India’s. It is pertinent to discuss Pakistan’s two main concerns here. These are growing Indo-Iran ties in Afghanistan and the development of the Chabahar port.

However, the dramatic turn in Iran-Pakistan relations came in 2016 when Indian agent Kulbushan Jadhav was arrested in Balochistan and it was claimed by Pakistan that he attempted to cross into Balochistan through Iran. Following the arrest of this Indian agent , Iran’s President visited Pakistan and Lt. Gen Asim Bajwa shared the text of the former Army Chief of Pakistan General Raheel Shareef, “There is one concern that RAW (India’s intelligence agency) is involved in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan and sometimes it also uses the soil of our brother country Iran.”Furthermore, the killing of Mullah Mansour in 2016 near the Iran border which the Pakistani military was suspicious about considering that Mansour has just crossed the border from Iran and was hit by a drone attack. Another sticking factor is that the Balochistan border is infested with drug smugglers, Baloch insurgents and pseudo-Taliban militants. These factors have instigated more mistrust between the two countries.

Talking about recent times, the last two years have witnessed more cross-border fire between Pakistani military and Iranian forces than the entire 68 years of bilateral relations.

India’s desire to engage with Iran is fairly obvious; it would lead to Pakistan’s isolation
and decrease Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan, while increasing India’s

On Nov 6, 2017 Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Iran. Focusing on the regional realities of South Asia, there are two paramount concerns to be discussed in this visit. First is Pakistan’s concern against the India and Iran’s role in Afghanistan and second is Iran’s apprehension on the terrorist attacks on its security forces allegedly from Pakistani soil. Both countries shave different viewpoints on the Middle East but they have not allowed this to undermine the bilateral agenda of the visit. In one of his earlier meetings with Ambassador Honardoost, Gen Bajwa had told him that “enhanced Pak-Iran military-to-military cooperation will have positive impact on regional peace and stability” with regards to Pakistan’s defence diplomacy. The entirety of this visit secures the trust between the two countries and at least Pakistan is safer from any effort or threat by Iran to sabotage the huge development of CPEC and Gwadar Port.

A well-Known historian and Oxford University academic Peter Frankopan said, “At the moment, there is a talk of Chabahar and Gwadar complementing each other, and being peers rather than rivals. This scenario is entirely plausible and possible. Whether it is likely or not is another question.”

In nutshell, it is pertinent to focus on the two developments of two belligerent countries of South Asia (India, Pakistan) have two equations; one is China-Pakistan with the development of Gwadar Port and China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Second is the India-Iran with the development of Chabahar Port and India’s growing influence of Afghanistan. It could be inferred here that Iran is not the sole neighbour who is assisting India to access Afghanistan but US is relatively playing more active role in uplifting India in this region. Hence on Pakistan’s side, the Chinese investment is facing more challenges than India’s investment in Chabahar Port. CPEC is an inclusive project and welcomes all states to be part of the project by investing and open up more opportunities of prosperity for the whole region. Pakistan’s Army Chief’s visit substantially has proven a catalyst for amending the mistrust between the two countries which eventually further supported each other’s development plans. It could also be infer optimistically that Gwadar could have benefits for Iran and CPEC can provide more trade opportunities for Iran. Moreover, China’s investment in Pakistan could be the pioneer to broader Chinese regional infrastructure investments, including in Iran. Chinese may make contributions to Chabahar.

Source: Daily Times, 1st Dec 2017.

December 1, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

China, Pakistan pledge more efforts to build economic corridor

Source: China Daily, 1st Dec 2017.

December 1, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Landmark project of CPEC

COMPLETION of another landmark project of CPEC, ahead of schedule, is a clear manifestation of the commitment of both Pakistan and China to ensure expeditious implementation of all the projects under the umbrella of historic initiative. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated Unit-I of 1320 MW Port Qasim Coal-fired Power Plant on Wednesday, which would contribute significantly in overcoming the menace of electricity shortage.
The project has jointly been developed by world class Chinese company PowerChina and Al Mirqab Capital of Qatar, which is a prominent company of the brotherly country. This is first large-scale energy project launched under CPEC, which uses environment friendly technology, therefore, takes care of any concerns about environmental impact of coal-based plants. PowerChina deserves appreciation for bringing latest technology to Pakistan and strictly abiding by the timelines for completion of the plant in view of the power crisis in the country. This largest plant under CPEC framework involves hefty investment and has been completed in 30 months, which is a role model for other investors and entrepreneurs. It is because of the hard work by companies like PowerChina that today Government of Pakistan is able to announce that there would be zero load-shedding from March 2018, an achievement that was not conceivable when the incumbent government took over in 2013. We are sure that successful implementation and operation of the project would make other investors to feel encouraged to either become partners in other CPEC-related projects or undertake their own investments. More important is the announcement by Chairman of PowerChina Resources Ltd Sheng Yuming that his company would continue contributing towards progress and development of Pakistan. It is also worth pointing that PML (N) government is under tremendous pressure these days but despite all this its focus remains on speedy completion of the on-going developmental projects. In an otherwise subdued environment, inauguration of projects like the one at Port Qasim must be a source of satisfaction for PML (N) leadership, which highlights the fact that attempts to deprive the government of fruits of its developmental efforts would not succeed.

Source: Pakistan Observer, 30th Nov 2017.

November 30, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

CPEC: Security tightened

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is surely and certainly a great game changer not only for Pakistan but also for the entire region. Under CPEC, a number of projects in energy, infrastructure and other sectors are under implementation across Pakistan including Punjab province. Pretty large numbers of Chinese nationals along with local people are working on these projects day and night. They are our guests and ensuring their security and safe working atmosphere is the bounden duty of the people as well as all law enforcement agencies in all fairness.
It is good to note that Punjab Police in the prevailing circumstances has decided to revise the security plan for the Chinese nationals on a priority basis. According to media reports, the Police Chief has quite timely and rightly directed all field police officers to reassess security personnel deployment for the Chinese nationals working on various development projects. All regional and district police officers have also been directed to visit the CPEC-related development project sites along with the Special Protection Units personnel in their respective areas to check security arrangements.
These directions were issued after undertaking extensive review of the security plan for CPEC projects, Chinese citizens, educational institutions and worship places in the province. Following this review, the police officers have also been directed that special security measures should also be taken around the worship places including mosques, imam bargahs and churches in addition to important educational institutions particularly those having co-education system and also continue search, combing and intelligence based operations as well around the sensitive places with the active help and cooperation of counter terror experts. All this surely augurs well for ensuring security of all people.

Source: Pakistan Observer, 30th Nov 2017.

November 30, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

CPEC NEWS

Port Qasim power plant to provide clean, cheap energy to Pakistan

The first unit of Port Qasim coal-fired power plant was inaugurated here on Wednesday, marking the second of the major energy projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) started to generate electricity.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said here in a ceremony that the power plant will provide the cheapest electricity to Pakistan and local people are the first one to get benefit from the power plant.

The power plant is another milestone for Pakistan-China friendship, he said.

The unit one of the 1,320-mw coal-fired power plant at Port Qasim will generate 660 mw electricity that will help overcome power shortage in Pakistan and optimize Pakistan’s energy structure, which mainly depends on oil and gas.

The prime minister said that the first unit was put into use three months ahead of its scheduled time, adding that the second unit of the plant will also be functional in February next year.

“CPEC will play a vital role in the economic development and progress of Pakistan,” Abbasi said.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing congratulated the launch of the first unit of the Qasim power plant, hoping that the plant could serve as a model project under CPEC.

He said that the power plant groups the third party of Qatar and it demonstrated that CPEC is for the development of the entire region.

According to Yan Zhiyong, chairman of the Power Construction Corporation of China, or Power China, the Port Qasim coal-fired power plant has two world’s advanced supercritical coal-fired generators that are the most environment friendly coal-fired generators.

He told media earlier Wednesday that the environmental protection standards that the Port Qasim plant adopted is higher than that of the European Union and the World Bank.

He said that China has transferred its most advanced technologies in this field to Pakistan.

Yan also said that the Power China also helps Pakistani workers in the project to study in China so as to operate the power plant in the future.

Source: Xinhua Net News, 30th November 2017.

November 30, 2017/0 Comments/by Obortunity Info

China denounces U.S. opposition to market economy status

Chinese entrepreneurs show interest in JVs, investment

APBF to hold a conference on ‘Economy, skill workforce’ on Monday

Solar energy adoption could save Pakistan around 6,000MW of electricity

Pakistan’s Afghanistan nightmare and the BRI

Iran-Pakistan ties: impact on CPEC

China, Pakistan pledge more efforts to build economic corridor

Landmark project of CPEC

CPEC: Security tightened

Port Qasim power plant to provide clean, cheap energy to Pakistan

Navigate

Contact