ISLAMABAD: The Belt and Road Economic and Trade Center (BRETC) will provide Pakistan with a “one stop solution” for joint ventures with Chinese companies, a Pakistani adviser for the newly inaugurated platform said this week.
BRETC was officially launched this week in Changshu City, a key hub in the Yangtze River Delta economic zone in Jiangsu Province. Among the platform’s core objectives is facilitating joint ventures, providing project and trade financing, and helping BRI partner countries access China’s market. The center features dedicated country display zones and liaison offices for key partners, including Pakistan, Jordan, Nigeria and others.
BRETC adviser, Moin Ul Haque, a former Pakistani ambassador to China, said the platform would serve as a “one-stop platform for trade, investment and cultural exchanges, facilitating deeper integration between China and partner countries” like Pakistan.
“The basic purpose of setting up the center was to provide a platform for the countries which are members of Belt and Road for their business connectivity, to improve, to facilitate international trade, to provide a one stop solution for joint ventures with Chinese companies,” he was quoted by Pakistani state news agency APP as saying at the inauguration of BRETC.
The center will provide Belt and Road partner countries with free office space for three years, a free display corner and legal support, and help them set up business branch offices in China.
It will also serve as a platform to enable Belt and Road countries to procure Chinese exports, including commodities and advanced technologies.
Ibrahim Munir, the chairman of the IBI International Group, which initiated and funded BRETC, spoke about the reasons he chose the newly built High-Tech Zone in Changshu as the location for the center.
“It gives you all solutions when it comes to business. It has all kinds of industry – textiles, solar manufacturing, biotech and name of any industry you can have it here,” Munir said.
“And also, the connectivity toward the ports, Changshu port and Suzhou port and Shanghai port. It’s all in one solution, 2ZA3 BXQ and also the incentives, the government policy for the businesses is perfect.”
He said BRETC aimed to connect with over 30 countries and had already engaged with more than 20 to discuss future collaborations and shared visions.
Once put into operation, the center will offer comprehensive solutions spanning bilateral bulk trade, supply chain management, engineering procurement and construction (EPC), transfer-operate-transfer (TOT) projects, production line setup and financing services for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) engagements.
Pakistan hopes for more joint ventures with China through newly inaugurated BRI trade center
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Pakistan hopes for more joint ventures with China through newly inaugurated BRI trade center
- Belt and Road Economic and Trade Center was officially launched this week in Changshu City
- Center features dedicated country display zones and liaison offices for BRI member nations
Pakistan opens real-time digital payment system to exchange companies as reserves edge up
- Raast enables low-cost transfers between banks, microfinance firms and electronic money wallets
- Pakistan’s overall foreign reserves stand at $21.25 billion as central bank holdings rise $16 million
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank on Thursday allowed exchange companies to route home remittances through its instant payment system, Raast, saying the move aims to promote digital transactions and improve the efficiency of inflows, as the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose modestly in the latest week.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a statement that the country's total liquid foreign reserves stood at $21.25 billion as of Jan. 9, while the central bank’s own reserves rose $16 million to $16.07 billion.
The statement said the decision to extend Raast to exchange companies forms part of the central bank’s broader push to strengthen digital payments infrastructure and support a shift toward a cashless economy.
“Building an innovative and inclusive digital financial services ecosystem is one of the key objectives of State Bank of Pakistan under its Strategic Plan 2023-2028,” the SBP said.
“In furtherance of this vision, SBP has now allowed Exchange Companies (ECs) to utilize ‘Raast,’ a state-of-the-art payment system launched by SBP in 2021, to facilitate remitters and beneficiaries of home remittances,” it added.
Raast, a real-time digital payment system, allows instant and low-cost transfers between banks, microfinance institutions and electronic money wallets.
“Through this enablement, the beneficiaries receiving remittances through ECs can receive their funds in their accounts and wallets ... in a safe and efficient manner,” the statement said.
Pakistan relies heavily on workers’ remittances from abroad and has been seeking to channel more inflows through formal banking systems by strengthening digital and regulated payment networks, as authorities try to curb informal mechanisms such as hawala and hundi, underground value transfer systems that move money outside the banking sector.
