SECTOR COMMITTEES FORMED FOR SPEEDY IMPLEMENTATION OF CHINESE INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS

Islamabad, March 17, 2004

The Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has formed Sector Committees for speedy implementation of Chinese Investment Agreements. He was chairing a meeting with the Chinese & Pakistani  Businessmen, for reviewing the implementation status of Investment Agreements signed between Pakistani & Chinese companies during Pakistan Business Forum held in November 2003 at Beijing, which was chaired by the President General Pervez Musharraf. The Sector Committees will submit the progress reports to the Minister in this regard.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh issued necessary instructions to the concerned officials to speed up the execution of these agreements and progress should be made on fast track basis. He also assured the Chinese investors that all out support  would be extended to them during the implementation process and the bottlenecks in this regard would be removed.

During the Pakistan Business Forum at Beijing, which proved to be a major break through in Pakistan-China economic relations, focus was made on various sectors including Infrastructure, Machinery, Textiles, Automobiles, Electronics, Chemicals, Engineering and Minerals.

The progress made in the projects of Adam Motors, Metro High Tech, Dewan  Farooque Motors, Baluchistan Wheels and T & T Textiles was found satisfactory, while matters relating to the supply of natural gas to the projects, Customs duty, Patent Act and Registration of supplies involved in the pharmaceutical products were also discussed and necessary instructions to the concerned ministries and departments were issued on the spot to facilitate the implementation of these agreements.

The Secretary Ministry of Privatisation Mr. Ahmad Waqar and the Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Mr. Waseem Haqqi along with the representatives of the concerned Ministries were also present during the meeting. During Beijing moot 22 Joint Ventures, MOUs and LOIs were signed in the field of Auto Sector (Vehicles & Motorcycles), Textile, Float Glass, Pharmaceuticals, Paper Plup, Bottles and Cans. Besides private sectors collaboration agreements, several bi-lateral cooperation agreements were also signed in the presence of the Presidents of both the countries.