Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stated that establishing economic zones in Pakistan is in his personal interest and commitment, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On Wednesday, he was speaking during a visit to the Rashakai Special Economic Zone. Rashakai SEZ is a major project within the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) strategy for industrial cooperation.
China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is developing the 1,000-acre SEZ in a joint effort with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC).
Both countries are working toward the second phase of CPEC, which includes regional collaboration and development through the establishment of industrial zones, according to the PM.
The prime minister stated in an interview with Chinese media that a joint venture merging Chinese industry and technology with Pakistani labour and investment would generate a win-win situation for both countries by increasing output and exports to the rest of the world.
He claimed that Pakistani trained and semi-skilled labour was cheaper than Chinese labour, and that a joint venture combining Chinese technology with Pakistani labour and investment would allowed the two countries to develop at reasonable rates and sell their products to other countries.
According to him, the early stage of CPEC included road and energy projects to meet Pakistan’s power demands, which changed good connections into unique ones with a new phase of people-to-people contacts.
He said Pakistan and China had a long-standing friendship that had reached new heights under President Xi Jinping’s leadership. He said that Pakistan had been the first beneficiary of the Belt and Road Initiative in the form of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (BRI).
In response to receiving, the prime minister stated that the CPEC projects had had some setbacks over the last three to four years, but that the current government was committed to bringing it up to “Pakistan Speed” to close the gap.
