Pak Minister seeks Chinese investment for bus manufacturing plant in Sindh

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Amid mushrooming Chinese investment in Pakistan, the Sindh transport minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has asked a Chinese company to submit its final proposal on setting up a bus manufacturing plant in the province, media reports said.

The request is made so that reservation of land and other formalities could be completed for starting work on the facility, reported Dawn. The minister made the request while chairing a meeting held with Yutong of China and its partners Master Motors Pakistan at his office on Friday.

This comes as experts have predicted that Pakistan may fall into a debt trap like Sri Lanka owing to its economic ties with China. Pakistan faces a bleak economic future as far as relations with China are concerned.

Pakistan’s fundamental challenge is that its economy is sinking and needs an infusion of funds to survive. While China is heavily responsible for Pakistan’s debt problem, it is the mishandling of Pakistan’s economy by successive governments that have led to the current impasse.

Chinese manufacturer, Yutong director Robin, Sales Manager Paul, Master Motors Pakistan Marketing Director, Muhammad Faisal Mairaj, National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) Project Director Sohaib Shafiq and others attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the progress on setting up Yutong Public Transport Plant in Sindh. Another point of discussion was on importing more buses from China under the Peoples Bus Service Project. Yutong director Robin told the minister that his company was working fast on the proposal for the plant and that the final proposal would be submitted soon.

Yutong and Master Motors handed over 10 trucks of relief goods to the provincial minister for flood victims. The relief goods included 1,400 ration bags and 200 tents, reported Dawn.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and China are set to start three new corridors in November, in addition to the multiple billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), to strengthen bilateral ties.

Launched in 2015, the CPEC is a multi-billion dollar development project, with a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. (ANI)