Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong calls on Caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Dr. Umar Saif

Authorities in Pakistan are seeking assistance from neighbouring China in the emerging fields of electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries.

The development comes as a meeting took place between Dr Umar Saif, Caretaker Minister for IT and Telecom, and newly-appointed Ambassador of China to Pakistan, Jiang Zaidong, in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“Wonderful to meet the Ambassador of China to Pakistan,” said Umar Saif, in a post on social media platform X.

The interim minister shared that the two held “very productive” conversations on how Pakistan can benefit from technology from China and help it move forward in emerging domains of EVs and batteries, chip manufacturing and telecom infrastructure.

“We specifically talked about how Pakistani IT companies and startups can tap into the huge Chinese market and how our academics can collaborate with world-class universities like Tsinghua University,” said Saif.

As per a statement released by the Ministry of IT, the minister shared that Pakistan is seeking a strategic partnership with China in the fields of IT and telecom infrastructure.

As per the statement, the minister said that Pakistan-China cooperation for the production of EVs can become a milestone. He informed that the authorities in Pakistan are working on the indigenous production of mobile phone batteries with the cooperation of China.

“Moreover, the country offers a very favourable environment for the manufacturing of microchips and other telecom products,” he said.

Saif stressed that the promotion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries is indispensable for Pakistani start-ups to access the Chinese market.

“Like Europe and America, China can become an attractive market for Pakistani IT exports,” said Saif.

The interim minister informed that all necessary steps are being taken to lay the optical fibre cable network across the country.

Meanwhile, the Chinese envoy assured the minister of all possible cooperation in the IT and telecommunication department.