PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday pledged to revamp Pakistan’s economy by emulating China’s model, with the objective of achieving similar economic success on a smaller scale. Speaking to a 12-member Chinese delegation led by Wang Fukang, he expressed the confidence that the visit would enhance bilateral arrangements in areas such as industry, agriculture, economic zones, and help increase Pakistan’s capacity to produce agricultural items in high demand in China. He noted that Pakistan could meet Chinese requirements by exporting high-quality goods and exploring opportunities in mining and minerals, IT, and export zones. He also suggested relocating certain industries to Pakistan due to China’s shift towards more advanced and sophisticated industrial ventures.
The visit of the delegation of experts is yet another manifestation of the desire of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to achieve accelerated economic growth and commitment of China to the betterment of Pakistan. This is because during his visit to China, the Prime Minister requested President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang to send experts to Pakistan and now the delegation comprising representatives of ten ministries is here to provide input on Chinese investment, the second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and boosting Pakistani exports. It will also review and offer recommendations on IT, agriculture, industry, investment, energy, minerals, special economic zones and communication. Its recommendations would necessarily be based on the Chinese experience of growth and development in various fields and hopefully Pakistani authorities would emulate them with necessary adjustments as per ground realities. The desire of the Prime Minister to follow the Chinese development model is not without a reason as China has been the fastest growing economy in the world and now become the world’s second largest economy after the USA. According to the IMF, China’s strong productivity growth, spurred by the 1978 market-oriented reforms, is the leading cause of China’s unprecedented economic performance. China placed equal emphasis on industrialization and agricultural growth to achieve an enviable position in terms of economic development. Experts also point out that China owes its monumental success to its policy of gradual institutional reform, selective and cautious borrowing of foreign ideas and a trial-and-error approach to policy making and reform. We hope that the Government of Pakistan will also remove bottlenecks in the way of industrial and agricultural growth and modernization with focus on local research and development and finding ways and means to reduce the cost of inputs and cost of doing business.
