Chinese investments in SEZs under CPEC to enhance Pakistan's exports: business leader

Photo taken on Feb. 28, 2023 shows the view of Thar Coal Block-I Coal Electricity Integration project in Sindh province, Pakistan. (Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company (Pvt) Limited/Handout via Xinhua)

The flagship projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have brought good investment prospects for Pakistan, said a Pakistani business leader.

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese investments in the special economic zones (SEZs) being established under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will increase Pakistan's exports and revenue, said a Pakistani business leader on Tuesday.

Fuad Ishaq, president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said in a statement that the country's exports would be further enhanced by Chinese investment in SEZs and industrial capacity building would also be strengthened.

The businessman added that the flagship projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) had brought good investment prospects for Pakistan.

"The CPEC is a guarantee for regional development and prosperity, and I hope that special economic zones under the CPEC would generate further economic activities and employment opportunities and lead the national economy and country toward stabilization," he said.

Photo taken on May 15, 2023 shows the dam of Suki Kinari Hydropower project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Mansehra district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. (CGGC/Handout via Xinhua)

He said the CPEC has already initiated economic development, and it would help the country further strengthen connectivity and promote overall progress.

Talking about the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held earlier this month in Beijing, the business leader said the forum not only provided windows of opportunities to countries across the world but also showed that the BRI is full of benefits and fruits under the win-win cooperation.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC is a corridor linking the Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation.