CPEC opens new avenues of value-addition: FCCI

F.P. Report

FAISALABAD: Industrialization phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has opened new avenues of value-addition in textile garment sector instead of sticking to the export of raw or semi-finished products, said Former Vice President of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Engineer Ahmad Hassan.

He was participating in a panel decision jointly organized by the National Textile University (NTU) and R & D section of FCCI here today in connection with the 3rd All Pakistan DICE Textile Innovation event.

Ahmad Hassan said that historic investment of 51 billion dollar has laid down a strong foundation for the accelerated development and growth of this region.

He said that CPEC is an opportunity as well as challenge and we must prepare our self to harvest the benefits from this project which is going to be a “reality”.

Engineer Ahmad Hassan also explained in detail the geo-strategic location of CPEC and said that roads are important to gear up the socio-economic development of any area.

“The China Pakistan Economic Corridor will not only benefit Pakistan and China but regional countries could also get its due dividends”, he added.

He stressed the need for shared prosperity and said that Pakistan and China should launch maximum joint ventures with their Chinese counterparts during industrial phase of CPEC to enhance exports from this region.

Dr. Tanveer Hussain Rector NTU told that china is making huge investment of 2.7 billion dollar in its textile garment sector. “The objective of this initiative is to produce 500 million garments per annum by 2020”, he told and added that it will also provide Pakistan an opportunity to avail from Chinese benefits and get its due share from the garment sector.

He also stressed the need for enhancing the capacity and competency of our workforce to give a quantum jump to our exportable surplus. He also supported an idea to establish a full-fledged Chinese department in NTU to make a pace with well advances Chinese industries.

Professor Wang of Beijing University dispelled the apprehensions of Pakistani industrialist and told that the per capita income in china is much higher than Pakistan and hence no Chinese will prefer to work in Pakistan except doing business with it.

He further told that 30 years ago China was also facing Pakistan like situation with rampant energy shortage and high cost of doing business.

“At that time, Japanese and Korean investors established their units in China”, he said and added that they fully benefited from their experiences and later upgrade their industry to compete with the rest of the world.

He said that Pakistan should also prepare itself to face emerging challenges so that it could also make progress in the coming years.

The panelists who took part in this discussion include Deputy Director Chinese Study Center Dr. Zameer Ahmed Awan, Retired Major General Akber Saeed Awan, Zaheer-ud-din of the National University of Science & Technology Islamabad, Waheed Khaliq Ramay Chairman Power looms Owners Association, Dr. Saeed Zameer-ul-Hassan Associate Professor Baluchistan University of Information technology & Management Sciences, Inam Afzal Khan, Former Vice President FCCI and Managing Editor Textile Journal Nadeem Mazhar.