Pakistan, China agree to launch new FYDP

[S_O_C_O_M]

Pakistan, China agree to launch new FYDP​

* JEC meeting agrees on proposals of over $13bn projects for development

* Decides to boost exports from Pakistan to China by providing tariff relaxation through free trade agreement

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China on Thursday agreed to launch a new Five Year Development Plan (FYDP) besides approving proposals for 36 projects worth $13,285 million in various fields to further boost bilateral economic cooperation between both countries.

The Pak-China Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (JEC) held its 14th session under the co-chairmanship of Finance Minister Hafiz Shaikh and visiting China International Trade Representative Gao Hucheng.

The proposals of the projects that the JEC agreed upon are related to development of industry, water and energy, agriculture, fisheries and communication.

The JEC also agreed to boost exports from Pakistan to China by providing tariff relaxation through the Free Trade Agreement, Shaikh and Hucheng said while addressing a joint press conference after the session.

Shaikh said that China would also send purchasing missions to Pakistan to book orders for exports and facilitate Pakistani exporters to visit China and participate in trade fairs to explore markets for their products besides building capacity of the exporters.

In addition, the JEC agreed to enhance Chinese investment in various sectors of the country’s economy, including agriculture, electricity, finance, mining and infrastructure, he added.

Shaikh said that bilateral trade between the two countries was $6.2 billion and that it had been witnessing a 30 percent increase every year, adding that the JEC had agreed to help boost balanced trade between the two countries.

Shaikh appreciated the immediate response of the Chinese government in provision of relief goods for the flood victims and the announcement of a $250 million grant for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by the floods.

He said the authorities concerned of both the countries would soon meet to fix the priorities for spending this post-flood assistance for the development of flood-hit areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Hucheng said that Pakistan and China were enjoying an all-weather friendship and the increasing economic and trade relations between the two countries were the proof of this.

He said China was the first country that reached to the victims of the flood besides announcing $250 million in support for developing the infrastructure destroyed by the floods that wrecked havoc in the country.

He appreciated the ongoing economic and trade cooperation between Pakistan and China and noted that significant progress had been made in the fields of economy and trade cooperation since holding of the 13th JEC in April 2007. He said that although trade between the two countries was in China’s favour, however, efforts would be made to encourage balanced trade by enhancing Pakistani exports to China.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[PakSher]

This is great economic news for the short, medium and long term relationship of Pakistan-China Friendship.

 

[huzihaidao12]

Hope to begin a more comprehensive development of relations between China and Pakistan, this is a good starting point.

 

[TechLahore]

Wow! This is huge news, and a surprise from left field. A $13.3B deal is pretty darn significant, and unless I've missed all the previous discussion, it got executed without much ado. Contrast with the $7.5B KL deal over the same period.

Particularly like the fact that this effort will accelerate our export growth. Also, notice the sectors China is making investments in: Agriculture, Power, Mining, Infrastructure etc. This is *exactly* where we need a huge amount of further attention.

Excited to see how this materializes... between KL and this larger Chinese investment, we are talking about projects worth $21B in Pakistan unfolding in the near future. And that's not counting our own dev funds, JVs with other countries and any other foreign investment (which is significant, especially from Turkey, ME and so on).

Once again, this is huge news for Pakistan.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Awesome news.

* Decides to boost exports from Pakistan to China by providing tariff relaxation through free trade agreement.

Good move here, this will certainly help to boost the economies of both sides and strengthen the bilateral relationship.

 

[Areesh]

Awesome awesome news. Thanks China. Sino Pakistan friendship forever.

 

[TARIQ BN ZIYAAD]

assalam alaikum

gr8 news for us

TARIQ

 

[deckingraj]

Wow this is certainly one of the best news i have heard about Pakistan over many days.....I am very much convinced that this will give a major boost to Pak economy and you guys will join in the other two giants of marking constant high GDP growth...

Congrats Guys and please please make most of it....

 

[Hyde]

Indeed a very great news

We are also getting concessions from European union to increase our exports
Americans has promised to investment in development sector
Working to exploit our natural reserves

South Koreans, Russian, Sweden, Germany and many other nations are interested in investing in our Energy, Telecommunication and infrastructure sector

and so on

The future looks bright for Pakistan... surely we are going to see an economic boom soon

We have huge potential to grow at fast pace and I am very optimistic if not all we will be taking benefit in many sectors

 

[TechLahore]

You know the gazillion dollar infrastructure deals are always the hot item from a press standpoint, but I am convinced that our agriculture and dairy sectors can fuel 10+% GDP growth all on their own if handled properly. I still have mud on my shoes from my morning visit to the farm and with tunnels and drip irrigation gaining ground, we can easily save 70% of our freshwater usage and increase yield between 40 and 100% per acre.

Pakistan is already the 5th largest milk producer in the world. Now if we focused on adding just a little bit of value by exporting cheese and feta, milk powder, desserts and so on, it can be massively beneficial.

The story is the same across the board. With just a little bit of planning and optimization existing sectors in our economy can skyrocket.

If not all of them, some of them will inshaAllah because one can already see this happening.

The future looks exciting!

 

[Cityboy]

Congratz Pakistan. . Glad to hear such news. I wish Pakistani people to make the most out of this deal. It will surely gonna help to bring back old glory in our beloved south asia.

 

[SpArK]

Great news.. revival of the industry, focus on agriculture and effective water management can take Pakistan to greater heights..

Focus should be on the products that can be exported to China rather than competing with their products.

Pakistan has a very fertile land and hardworking population, give them something of a helping hand and they will give back miracles and prosperity.