September 17, 2018 (MLN): In light of the doubts being casted on the viability of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Sunday said China was a close and trusted ally, which should not be offended due to unwarranted criticisms.
The comments defending the CPEC initiatives follow public statements by top government officials blaming China for unfair agreements, regarding which the FPCCI warned saying it could lead to potential damages for Pakistan.
As per a report published by UK’s Financial Times, Prime Minister Imran Khan's Adviser on Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production and Investment, Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood was quoted as saying, “The previous government did a bad job negotiating with China on CPEC — they didn’t do their homework correctly and didn’t negotiate correctly so they gave away a lot.”
“Chinese companies received tax breaks, many breaks and have an undue advantage in Pakistan; this is one of the things we’re looking at because it’s not fair that Pakistan companies should be disadvantaged,” the report quoted him as saying.
Following this report, the Ministry of Commerce had issued a clarification, which stated that the minister’s statements had been misconstrued and taken out of context.
President FPCCI Mr. Ghazanfar Bilour, on Sunday, said that statements regarding CPEC agreements by certain high-ranking government officials were inane and negative, and should be avoided or else it would be damaging for the relationship with China as well as for the economy of Pakistan.
In a statement, he said that some of the concerns raised by ministers were rather unjustified, and had prompted the ministry of commerce and others to issue clarifications on the matter.
He said that China has always helped Pakistan and has never acted as an imperial power.“We should be thankful to China for investing tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan despite all the odds. Beijing should be encouraged since discouraging the friendly nation is not in our interest at a time when other friends have changed their policy towards Pakistan”, he pointed out.
He said that Pakistan was not considered a safe country for investments as the government faces issues of unsatisfactory law and order, tax evasion and rampant energy theft. To add to that, he said that government officials consider it a duty to milk business community while the country stands at 147th position in the World Banks’ Ease of Doing Business ranking. In light of these realities, he urged that we should be thankful to China for investing tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan despite all the odds.
In lieu of blaming China for doubts and uncertainties hovering over CPEC, the reservations could be sorted out through mutual negotiations, it added.
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