ISLAMABAD: GuoDong Group, a leading Chinese communications firm, has expressed “strong interest” in investment in Pakistan’s information and communication technology (ICT) and new energy sectors, the Pakistani IT ministry said on Sunday.
The statement came after a meeting between Pakistan’s IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and a three-member GuoDong Group delegation, led by its founder and chairman Lu Jie in Shanghai.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Global Artificial Intelligence Conference, at which both sides discussed investment opportunities in Pakistan, according to the Pakistani IT ministry.
“The delegation expressed strong interest in investing in Pakistan’s ICT sector, with a focus on telecommunication towers, data centers, and cloud computing infrastructure,” the Pakistani ministry said in a statement.
“Mr. Lu Jie also conveyed interest in expanding to new energy domains, including EV charging stations, smart city solutions, and advanced material manufacturing within Pakistan.”
The development comes as Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, has been looking to boost foreign investment for sustainable growth.
In May, the Pakistani government allocated 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative to power cryptocurrency mining and Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers. The South Asian country is also looking to build critical electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as it targets 30 percent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 under its ambitious New Electric Vehicle Policy (NEVP) 2025–2030.
Welcoming the proposals, Khawaja invited the GuoDong Group officials to visit Pakistan for more detailed discussions with relevant stakeholders.
“She assured the delegation of the Government’s full support and facilitation to help realize these investment initiatives,” the IT ministry said.
