Pakistan PM to attend Pak-China Business Forum today amid push for increased investment

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to attend the Pak-China Business Forum today, Wednesday, after beginning the first leg of his five-day visit to China from the southeastern city of Shenzhen, which is known as a major global technology hub, a day earlier.
Sharif’s visit is primarily billed as an effort to enhance and upgrade the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, through which it has pledged over $60 billion in Pakistan.
So far, the two countries have jointly worked on numerous CPEC energy and infrastructure development projects and plan to elevate their collaboration to the next level through industrial, agricultural and business-to-business (B2B) collaborations.
“The prime minister will participate in the Pak-China Business Forum today,” said a statement circulated by his office in Islamabad. “Under the second phase of CPEC, the forum will prove to be an important milestone for cooperation and partnership between Pakistani and Chinese companies in various sectors.”
“During the forum, the prime minister will also meet with the heads of renowned Chinese high-tech companies,” it added. “Later, the prime minister will also visit the Nanshan One Window, Shenzhen Museum and Huawei Headquarters.”
Pakistan has frequently sent high-level official delegations to China, its closest regional ally, in the past. However, most of these visits have begun in Beijing and revolved around state-level interactions between the top officials of the two countries.
Sharif’s visit comes at a time when his administration is actively trying to put Pakistan’s economy back on track amid prolonged financial troubles that have compelled the country to repeatedly urge friendly nations and international lenders for loans.
In recent months, Pakistani authorities have said they are no longer striving to borrow money from allies but asking them to make mutually beneficial investments and explore the possibility of collaborating with local businesses.
According to the Pakistani information ministry, representatives of 79 companies from the country are already in China for B2B meetings and to attend the business forum.
Chinese investment and financial support since 2013 have been key for the South Asian nation’s struggling economy, including the rolling over of loans so that Islamabad can meet its external financing needs at a time when its foreign reserves are critically low.
The Pakistani prime minister will also meet President Xi Jinping and other senior officials in Beijing before concluding his visit to China on June 8.