BEIJING – The successful development of the China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative in recentyears has ushered in historic development opportunities for Pakistan.
The construction of the CPEC, Pakistan’s strategic position, Pakistanis’love for peace and their keen expectation for a better future, have madethe world’s major investors termed Pakistan as a place of huge potentialand immense investment value, Cheng Xizhong, visiting Professor atSouthwest University of Political Science and Law said in his articlepublished in China Economic Net.
He said Pakistan’s security situation had improved substantially, as thegovernment issued a series of favorable policies, and the businessenvironment improved significantly.
China was one of the world’s major investors. Its huge investment inPakistan had played an important leading role and Pakistan was now China’slargest investment destination in South Asia, he added.
Cheng remarked that on top of that, the Government of Pakistan and allwalks of life were well aware of the importance of improving the investmentenvironment.
Pakistan’s political parties, federal and local governments at all levels,all sectors of society, and the people of the whole country need to standtogether and focus on the social and economic development of the country,so as to quickly change the status of poverty and backwardness, and getPakistan on the track of fast development, he added.
Referring to Reform and Opening-up in China, he opined that the improvementof the investment environment was also a continuous process and there wasno end. “Anything that is not conducive to the investment of domestic andforeign capital should be changed and obstacles should be cleared away.”
Read Top Stories
He said in order to attract more and more domestic and foreign capital toinvest in Pakistan, the continuity of policies should be well maintained,adding, there should be judicial guarantee for the continuity of policies.
Pakistan is ranked 108 among 190 economies in the WB Ease of Doing Businessranking, witnessing an improvement from 136 in 2018 to 108 in 2019. It hassecured a place among the world’s top 10 business climate improvers.International credit rating agency Moody’s has also upgraded Pakistan’scredit rating outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’.
Foreign companies have made additional investments in Pakistan. LastOctober, Hong Kong-based port operator Hutchison Port Holdings committedinvestment of ＄240 million for container terminal capacity increase atPort of Karachi.
In the same month, Nestle inaugurated a new juice plant worth ＄22 millionin Punjab to increase its production capacity in Pakistan. Cargill andPepsiCo, global food and agricultural producers, both said they wouldexpand or make new investment in Pakistan.
