Shahbaz Sharif attends COP27 climate meeting in Sham Al Sheikh, Egypt. File

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday invited Chinese companies to invest heavily in renewable energy projects in Pakistan, particularly solar energy.

He was talking to a delegation of China Construction; Third Engineering Bureau headed by Tan Guofu, Vice Chairman of the company.

The Prime Minister appreciated the company’s Vice Chairman Tan Guofu’s commitment to invest more in infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan.

Shahbaz said the relations between Pakistan and China have been very exemplary in all areas and mentioned his recent meeting with the company’s president during his visit to China.

He also appreciated the company for its donations to the flood-affected people of Pakistan. Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, Zafaruddin Mehmood and other senior government officials also attended the meeting.

Pakistan-Vietnam trad

In a separate development, Head of Vietnam Trade Mission Nguyen Thi Diep Ha has said that Pakistan and Vietnam have been maintaining good business and trade relations as the trade volume, which stood at $54 million in 2005, improved to $794 million in 2021 and it will very soon cross the level of $1 billion despite the fact that both countries were hit hard by unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Exchange views on how to promote cooperation for the mutual benefits and promoting friendship between Vietnam and Pakistan at a meeting during her visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), she said that a lot of potential and opportunities were available for improving Pakistan’s exports to Vietnam which was less than 1 per cent of Vietnam’s total imports.

“Vietnam imports $1.7 billion worth leather, of which Pakistan’s export share was just 1.5 per cent. Similarly, Vietnam imports pharmaceutical products of around $3.3 billion but Pakistan’s export share was 0.25 per cent only while the stainless-steel surgical products worth $638 million are also being imported by my country but Pakistan’s export of these items is hardly 0.18 per cent”, she added.

News Network International