In order to increase Pakistan’s exports to $5 billion and generate almost 0.5 million jobs, the Chinese textile company Shandong Ruyi Group and the Board of Investment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday. Under the terms of the agreement, Shandong Ruyi would develop textile parks in Pakistan that meet international standards.
A delegation of nine members from the RUYI group, led by Chairman QiuYafu, visited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and signed the pact.
The Chinese corporation would build textile parks in Sindh and Punjab under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in front of the prime minister. Approximately 100 Chinese textile companies would be invited to invest in these parks.
The prime minister praised the long-standing relationship between China and Pakistan and noted that the two countries’ economic ties were getting stronger every day. Recalling that the company had been the original backer of the Sahiwal Coal Power Plant, which was constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, he greeted the Chinese RUYI group with great praise and praised its investment in Pakistan’s textile industry.
The CEO of the company briefed the prime minister on the purpose of the textile parks, which was to increase textile exports and establish the nation as a centre for textiles and apparel.
The textile parks would be created as zero-carbon, automated, solar-powered facilities in addition to providing between 0.3 and 0.5 million employment. The first phase of the project would see exports reach $2 billion, while the second would see them reach $5 billion.
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The meeting was informed that construction on the textile parks will begin at year’s end and take an additional three years to finish. Additionally, a wholesale commodity centre would be established by the Chinese corporation in Karachi and Lahore.
It was determined at the meeting to establish working groups to pursue the understanding in Beijing and Islamabad. Along with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Premier also established a special committee headed by Zafaruddin Mehmood and including federal ministers of commerce, industries and production, investment and privatisation, and foreign secretary.
They had come to Pakistan as friends, not as investors, the chairman of the RUYI group said to the gathering.
High-ranking officials in attendance were Minister of Power Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Minister of Industries and Production, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Privatisation Abdul Aleem Khan, and Minister of Commerce Jam Kamal Khan.
As per the MoU signed at a ceremony witnessed by PM Shehbaz Sharif, the Chinese organization would lay out textile parks in Sindh and Punjab provinces, to which around 100 Chinese textile firms would be invited to contribute.
Instructions from the prime minister state leader, the company head, said that the textile parks aimed at enhancing textile products and making the country a hub of textiles and garments.
To be controlled by solar energy, the textile parks would be created as zero-carbon and automated facilities to upgrade the products to $2 billion in its first stage and $5 billion in the second one, other than making from 0.3 million to 0.5 million positions.
The gathering was informed that work on the material parks would begin by this yearend and would require an additional three years to finish.
The meeting chose to shape working groups in Islamabad and Beijing to seek comprehension. PM Shehbaz also shaped a special committee under Deputy PM Ishaq Dar containing government clergymen for trade, venture and privatization, enterprises and creation, a foreign secretary, a representative of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, and Zafaruddin Mehmood.
Chairman Qiu Yafu emphasized that RUYI Group had come to Pakistan as an investor as well as a friend. He also alluded to “Shehbaz Speed,” a term used to depict the quick execution of improvement projects under Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as Punjab Chief Minister, communicating and expressing hope for a similar speed in the textile park project.