Pakistan offers “huge potential” for Chinese investors across agriculture, technology, mining and manufacturing sectors, backed by sweeping incentives, simplified regulations and expanding China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) cooperation, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Investment and Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh said.

In an exclusive interview, Sheikh told Gwadar Pro that Chinese businesses are increasingly viewing Pakistan as a profitable and investment-friendly destination, particularly under the second phase of CPEC.

“Many Chinese delegations are interested in Pakistan because the bottom line in Pakistan is very attractive, profitability is very good,” Sheikh said, highlighting opportunities in information technology, agriculture, mines and minerals.

He said the BOI has prioritized regulatory reforms to improve ease of doing business and facilitate foreign investors through a one-window system in Islamabad involving representatives from all ministries.

“We are mainly placing emphasis on simplifying our regulations,” he said, adding that Pakistan recently approved the “Karobar Act” to further streamline business procedures.

Sheikh said Pakistan’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are offering extensive incentives to foreign investors, including duty-free machinery imports, exemption from sales tax on machinery and a nine-year income tax holiday.

He also revealed that Pakistan is allocating 6,000 acres of land for industrial investors, with plots ranging from 500 to 1,000 acres available free of charge for serious export-oriented ventures.

“We are giving those lands just free of cost, so that the initial investment is not made on the land, but on industries, machinery and manufacturing,” he said.

According to Sheikh, growing Chinese confidence in Pakistan is also reflected in the country’s capital markets and bilateral business engagement. He said that Pakistan’s stock exchange has ranked among the world’s top-performing markets over the past two years.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China

Referring to high-level exchanges between the two countries, Sheikh said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China last year, accompanied by around 300 Pakistani businessmen, resulted in multiple business-to-business agreements, memorandums of understanding and joint ventures.

He added that another delegation of around “110 Pakistani investors, mainly from the technology and IT sectors, is expected to visit China next week alongside the prime minister”.

On agriculture cooperation, Sheikh said Pakistan is seeking to modernize its farming sector with Chinese technology to improve crop yields and enhance exports. “The Chinese also feel that there is a lot of profitability in this field in agriculture,” he said.