IPFS News Link • Business/ Commerce
Chinese, Pakistani businesses build ties as Beijing splurges on 'Silk Road'
• http://www.dawn.com, REUTERSA dozen executives from some of Pakistan's biggest firms told Reuters that Chinese companies were looking mainly at the cement, steel, energy and textile sectors, the backbone of Pakistan's $270b economy.
Analysts say the interest shows Chinese firms are using Beijing's "One Belt, One Road" project ? a global trade network of which Pakistan is a key part ? to help expand abroad at a time when growth has slowed at home.
A Chinese-led consortium recently took a strategic stake in the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and Shanghai Electric Power acquired one of Pakistan's biggest energy producers, K-Electric, for $1.8b.
"The Chinese have got deep pockets and they are looking for major investment in Pakistan," said Muhammad Ali Tabba, chief executive of two companies in the Yunus Brothers Group cement-to-chemicals conglomerate.
Tabba said Yunus Brothers, partnering with a Chinese company, lost out in the battle for K-Electric, but the group is eyeing up other joint ventures as part of a $2b expansion plan over the coming years.