Pakistan-Sichuan Chamber of Commerce was established in Chengdu, China to promote bilateral trade and open avenues of socio-economic partnership.
It’s inaugural meeting was held in Chengdu on Friday. According to Gwadar Pro, the PSCC was initiated by Sichuan enterprises invested in Pakistan.
The chamber has been approved by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by The China Department of Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It set up a secretariat in Islamabad and a representative office in Chengdu, China.
The PSCC will provide both Pakistani and Chinese enterprises a platform for resource sharing, service convergence, project alignment and advantage display.
Mudassir Tipu, the director general (China), the former Consul General of Pakistan in Chengdu, and the speaker at the World Economic Forum, delivered a speech at the meeting that CPEC is fruitful and the friendship between the two countries is unbreakable.
In the future, Southwest China, represented by Sichuan Province, will play an important role in the CPEC. “Sichuan province, in fact, the southwest of China is critically important region for Pakistan and CPEC,” Tipu said, “a lot of economic opportunities are being created between the southwest of China and the northeast of Pakistan.
For example, two mega projects have been brought into CPEC in this region, Azad Pattan Project and Kohala Power Project.” “Including energy projects, a lot of infrastructure projects under CPEC has been completed. Now, CPEC is coming to its second phase which is focused on industrial and socio-economic development.
We have identified nine special economic zones which will attract a lot of investment to Pakistan,” he added, “The CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting to be held in October or November this year will also be a key element to further deepen bilateral cooperation.”
Tipu believed that Pakistan has already possessed certain ability in industrial and socio-economic field, and the business communities of the two countries should continue to deepen cooperation.
Meanwhile, China Textile Joint Exhibition was held by China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) in Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC-Shanghai), providing an attractive environment for revival of textile industry, following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Several Pakistani textile enterprises also took part in this event to display products made in Pakistan such as cotton yarn, socks, hats and so on.
According to Gwadar Pro, the China Textile Joint Exhibition, held on September 23th -25th was having four sub-exhibitions, attracted exhibitors from Pakistan, Austria, South Korea, France, Germany, Italy and other countries.
A total of 4,500 exhibitors participated in the joint exhibition, with an exhibition area of 300,000 square meters.
The organizer said that under the premise of ensuring the perfect epidemic prevention measures, the scale of the exhibition was not degraded. “We provide one-to-one negotiation space for exhibitors, and enterprises can also communicate in the booth.”
This joint exhibition provides a platform for exhibitors to negotiate, it also promotes the economic recovery in textile sector. The organizer said that the textile industry has been hit hard by the epidemic.
“As the half-year quarantine at home, consumers have formed the habit of buying textiles online. However, due to the particularity of textile industry, it is difficult for online transactions to let buyers know the texture of the fabric. Therefore, inter-enterprise transactions require a lot of comparison and contact purchase.”
Ather Iqbal, a Pakistani exhibitor said, “we have been working with China for ten years. China’s textile technology is far ahead, the quality of products is excellent, and the prices are reasonable. Meanwhile, the tixtile market in China is also massive.” “Under CPEC, both Pakistani and Chinese governments have implemented many favorable policies, such as tariffs and trade procedures, which have greatly increased our enthusiasm for cooperation,” he added.
