Ayesha Saba

Cooperation between Pakistan and China in the high-tech industry can significantly boost the local economy of Pakistan. This collaboration brings together the strengths and resources of both countries to foster technological advancements, promote industrial growth, and create employment opportunities, experts said.

“Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan and China are focusing on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, encouraging people-to-people exchanges, establishing joint research laboratories, cooperating on the establishment of technology and hi-tech parks,” said Hamza Saeed Orakzai, Director of Strategic Planning at Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA), while talking to WealthPK.

He said China has positioned itself as a global technology leader, and both countries have many opportunities to work together. “The STZA has set up a dedicated desk to assist Chinese technology companies and large-scale enterprises investing in Pakistan’s special economic zones (SEZs),” he informed.

Hamza said that high-tech firms in the pharmaceutical, medical, precision, and optical instrument industries, radio, television, and communication equipment, aircraft and spacecraft, and computing machinery industries require transfer of technology. He said Pakistan can access international markets, attract foreign investment, and generate foreign exchange earnings with Chinese cooperation.

“Pakistan provides a myriad of opportunities for foreign businesses to flourish and prosper. The SEZs provide a 10-year income tax holiday and one-time customs duty exemption for plants and machinery, both for the developers and zone enterprises,” Hamza said. He said the government of Pakistan highly values Chinese investment and, through its liberal investment regime, promises the possibility of 100% repatriation of capital, profits, and dividends.

“To maximise the benefits of the Pak-China cooperation in the high-tech industry, it is essential to focus on skill development, technology absorption, and policy reforms. Pakistan should invest in education and training programs to develop a skilled workforce capable of meeting the demands of the high-tech industry,” he emphasised.

Former chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Azfar Ahsan told WealthPK that the Pakistani industry needs to get into China and other countries’ knowledge base to raise local productivity levels and competitiveness, and get into joint ventures. “Each SEZ has specific geographical competency and unique competitive production potentials that can be utilised, improved, and flourished by joint venturing with Chinese companies,” he emphasised.

Azfar said Chinese exports contain quite an even spread of low, medium, and high technologies in a highly diversified commodity structure, while Pakistan’s exports show a heavy dependence on low-tech and primary products. “Why don’t we produce solar panels in Pakistan? Why don’t we produce inverters in Pakistan? We are importing because we do not have as much potential. We cannot continue importing these things because of a lack of dollar flow,” he said.

He said Pakistan must overcome bottlenecks to investments and enable a business-friendly environment. The two countries recently agreed to launch three new corridors – China-Pakistan Green Corridor, which will focus on the agricultural environment, food security and green development; China-Pakistan Health Corridor, which will help Pakistan achieve efficiency in the medical field; and China-Pakistan Digital Corridor, which will boost Pakistan’s IT industry.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk