China urges Pakistan to expedite work on Three SEZs

China has asked Pakistan to expedite work on three proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZs), it has reliably learned. According to documents available with Pakistan Today, Chinese officials in recently held Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting in the first week of this month, strongly advised Pakistani officials to expedite the work on the proposed SEZs.

The recently held meeting of the JCC earlier this month had the SEZs at Rashakai Nowshera, Allama Iqbal, Faisalabad and Dhabeji, Thatta as its top priority for discussion. The projects are the ones that the JCC was most anxious to get rolling, and are it is expected that development work for them will begin sooner rather than later.

The documents further stated that the Chinese side urged the Pakistani side to show initiative and install external infrastructure facilities, as well as introduce targeted preferential policies, and provide “one-window” service in the SEZ at the earliest possible date.

Moreover, the documents also revealed that the Chinese end of the table also encouraged the participation of competent Chinese companies in the bidding process of the Dhabeji SEZ that will soon be started.

According to details, the Pakistani delegation was focused on bringing up the upgrade to Pakistan Steel as its top priority during the meeting. The documents also went on to state that the Chinese side was quick to recognizes the importance of this project to Pakistan. As such, the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) and Donghua Steel have expressed interest and willingness to participate in the project.

It is hoped that companies from the two sides will be able to maintain close communication for an early settlement of related issues, and push for substantive progress as soon as possible.

Both sides also discussed industrial cooperation between the two countries, and the fourth meeting of the Joint Working Group on Industrial Cooperation was convened successfully through video link on October 22, 2019.

JCC noted that from October 14th to 19th, 2019, a team of Chinese experts was sent by China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC) for an industrial diagnosis of Pakistan. The expert team provided intellectual and technical support to the industrial and SEZ development in Pakistan, and their work achieved good results. The JCC was hopeful that the two sides would be successful in their mission to set up a long-term mechanism to deepen China-Pakistan industrial cooperation.

Furthermore, the JCC also appreciated the activities of China and Pakistan Young Workers’ Seminar Camp. Four seminars have been held since the project was launched, and these activities have helped to boost the technical exchanges and people-to people connectivity between Chinese and Pakistani workers.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and Ministry for Planning, Development & Reform of Pakistan will sign the MoU to further strengthen the worker’s exchanges between the two neighbors.