Industrial transfer is a win-win solution for Pakistan, China, said Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Federal Minister for Industries and Production in an interview with China Economic Net. Taking CPEC and FTA as chances, Pakistan can utilize Chinese capital and technology to upgrade its industry and achieve sustainable production, and it can also produce more Made-in-Pakistan goods to cater for the needs from the Chinese market, he said adding that "our ministry is looking into it very closely." Many jobs are currently being moved from China to countries where cheap labor is available, including Pakistan. The minister told CEN, "If you compare it with other countries, labor in Pakistan is very cheap and skilled.

Pakistan has a lot of potential to attract foreign investment." "You may have seen that there has been a lot of industrialization in Vietnam in recent years. One of the reasons for this is their cheap labor. Thus, we have to take Pakistan’s potential to an optimum level. For this we have to make the right policies and long-term policies," Syed Murtaza Mahmud said. As the minister put it, both Pakistan and China have comparative advantages and through industrial transfer both sides can achieve a win-win solution. Since CPEC enters into the second phase and Pakistan's investment environment becomes much better, more high-quality investment projects were attracted to Pakistan, injecting strong development impetus to its economy.

"But the important thing is that we people improve our policies. The function of the government is to incentivize and facilitate. We need to reevaluate our policies," he pinpointed. For example, "Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) were created in Pakistan but it is important that our policies evolve with time," Syed Murtaza Mahmud told the reporter. "We are comparing our policies with those of other countries, especially China, which has given their own EPZs and SEZs policies.  If we create the environment and give right policies, there is a lot of potential in Pakistan, and I believe a lot of industry from outside will shift to Pakistan," the minister further said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP