KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Tianjin Yong Jin Business and Trade Corporation have signed a memorandum of mutual cooperation, under which the KCCI will provide assistance in establishment of Tianjin Commercial and Development Centre here and in other cities.
These centres were set up by Tianjin Yong Jin Business and Trade Corporation, KCCI statement said here on Friday.
The agreement was inked by KCCI President Younus Muhammad Bashir and Yao Cheng, General Manager of Yong Jin Trade Co Limited during the visit of a 9-member Chinese delegation to Karachi Chamber which was led by Chen Wei Ming, Vice President of Tianjin People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
According to the memorandum, Tianjin Yong Business and Trade Corporation China would also help Karachi Chamber establish friendly cooperation with business communities in Tianjin and other cities of China.
Tianjin Yong Business and Trade Corporation China would do its best to recommend, introduce and promote enterprises or institutional organizations in Tianjin and other cities in China to invest or set up their business in Karachi.
Leader of the Chinese delegation, Chen Weiming, while briefing about the purpose of their visit to Karachi Chamber, said the business community of Tianjin city wants to enhance cooperation with the business and industrial community of Karachi which encouraged them to meet businessmen and industrialists of Karachi Chamber.
He was of the view that as compared to the past few years, the overall situation in Karachi has substantially improved which prompted them to explore opportunities of enhancing cooperation in different sectors of the economy. “Bilateral cooperation and exchanges of information and delegations have to be encouraged between the two countries”, he opined.
He informed that the city of Tianjin was just 120 kilometres away from Beijing and it was the third largest city and an economic centre of China with one of the largest coastal belt in north China.
Tianjin’s was ranked 4th in the world in terms of cargo handling, he said.
“A huge number of 300,000 companies are successfully doing business in Tianjin alone, of which around 25,000 big international companies are operating in this city. Hence, Tianjin is regarded as the manufacturing centre for the whole China”, he added. Earlier, President KCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir informed that Karachi, being the economic hub of Pakistan, offers profitable investment opportunities and added facilities for investment and joint ventures to Chinese investors.
The city was an attractive place for Chinese businessmen and investors, who can surely earn maximum profits by setting up their businesses or undertaking joint ventures here.
He said that with improved law and order situation and upon completion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gwadar Port, this region was likely to attract substantial amount of foreign investment and the Chinese business community can also benefit from the situation by investing or undertaking joint ventures in Pakistan, particularly Karachi.
Commenting on Pakistan-China trade and economic relations, President KCCI noted that Pakistan’s exports to China stood at $1.903 billion during 2015-16 whereas its imports were recorded at $8.127 billion, indicating an overall trade volume of more than $10.03 billion which must be enhanced and it can be done through collective efforts.
