Trade with China to reach $15bn: PCICL launched
KARACHI, Dec 17: A formal launch of $200 million Pakistan-China Investment Company Limited (PCICL) was held on Monday on the lawns of Governors House at a ceremony, chaired by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad.
Those who attended the ceremony included caretaker finance minister Dr Salman Shah, SBP Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, the Chinese consul-general, diplomats and business leaders.
The Pakistan-China Investment Company is the outcome of a joint venture agreement signed between the China Development Bank and the Government of Pakistan on July 18.
Under the memorandum of association, the PCICL has been set up to establish various subsidiary companies to carry out particular projects in financial, infrastructural, industrial, mining, manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.
The company will strive to promote economic collaboration between the two countries by way of improving contacts between capital markets and corporate sectors of the two countries, investment in infrastructure projects, development of real-estate projects, participation in the privatisation process, hotels and tourism projects, development of special economic zones, and act as full service investment and merchant bank, and offer a host of financial and advisory services.
One of the first projects, being taken up by the PCICL, is development of 400-acre industrial estate near Lahore while many other projects are also being considered for investment.
The Pakistan-China Investment Company Limited brings into active and close collaboration the economic superpower China with Pakistan which is an emerging economic market, and it would augur well for regional development and prosperity.
With a capital base of $300 billion, the Development Bank of China is in partnership with Pakistan in the company, he said.
The Development Bank of China, Dr Salman said, is a bigger bank than the World Bank in terms of resources.
China, he said, is a huge exporter of resources and Pakistan is well-positioned to receive resources.
China, he declared, is now driving global markets in energy, steel and commodities, and had achieved excellence in a number of fields, while Pakistan, with 160 million population that include 100 million young people of up to 25 years of age, and with an average economic growth of seven per cent in the last five and six years, has all the potential to prove a worthy partner in economic progress.
We will measure your progress in terms of successful implementation of a number of projects, the minister told the Chinese chief executive and his Pakistani deputy of the company.
State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar, in her address, said that the Pakistan-China Investment Company is the seventh financial institution of the country set up with Chinese assistance.
She recalled her association with the Asian Development Bank during which she remained involved in a number of projects in China.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad spoke about economic cooperation between Pakistan and China over the last more than five decades in which the setting up of Pakistan-China Investment Company was an important milestone as it marks collaboration between private sectors of the two countries.
Mr Chen Jianbo, the managing director of the launched company, expressed great prospects for investment by the company.
Mr Jianbo was introduced as a banker, who has, so far, appraised projects worth over $15 billion investment and is managing assets worth $5 billion.
Syed Iqbal Ashraf, the deputy managing director, who represents Pakistan in the PCICL top management, gave a full account of the trade and business relationship between the two agreements and involvement of China in many key projects.
The speakers highlighted many projects that symbolise Pakistan-China friendship. These are Karakoram Highway, Gwadar Sea Port, Heavy Mechanical Complex, Heavy Electrical Complex, Heavy Forge and Foundry, Saindak Copper Mining Complex, the two Chashma Nuclear Power Plants and many other projects of vital strategic nature.
The two-way volume of trade between the two countries is $5 billion which is expected to increase by three times to $15 billion a year in next five years.
A five-year development programme has also been drawn up to increase the level of economic cooperation.
Trade with China to reach $15bn: PCICL launched -DAWN - Business; December 18, 2007