BEIJING, Aug 3rd (DNA): CPEC renewable energy cooperation cited as a model of Sino-Pak cooperative partnership, according to a report published by Gwadar Pro.

“In 2020, the renewable energy projects under CPEC have not been slowed down by COVID-19 outbreak.

Each project group of China has worked closely with local employees to ensure the power supply of Pakistan. Pakistan has great potential in renewable energy, covering hydropower, wind energy and photovoltaic power.

China will continue to support Pakistan’s energiewende,” stated by 2020 International Cooperation Report on Renewable Energy of China, jointly published by China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI) and International Energy Information Platform (IEIP) on 30th July.

538 people, including experts and scholars from the Chinese Society for Hydropower Engineering (CSHE), the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA), attended the conference.

Zhou Shichun, spokesman of CREEI, said at the conference: “It has become the common consensus and concerted action of all countries to accelerate the global energiewende and promote green and low-carbon development. In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the world, causing the economy to fall into a deep recession globally.

However, in the past year, global renewable energy has been growing against the trend. Hence, accelerating development of renewable energy has become an important means for countries to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and achieve green recovery.”

Hydropower is still a major force in China-Pakistan renewable energy cooperation. CREEI is a key member of CPEC energy planning expert group and has carried out a joint study with The National Transmission and Distribution Corporation (NTDC).

According to the report, CREEI analyzed: “Pakistan is rich in hydropower resources and has about 40GW of exploitable technology.

Up to now, about 10GW of installed hydropower capacity in Pakistan has been developed and the utilization rate has reached 25%, so there is still a huge potential left.

With the deepening of energy cooperation under CPEC, the shortage of power supply in Pakistan has been alleviated year by year. With the continuous progress of energy transformation in Pakistan, hydropower, as the major force of renewable energy structure, China and Pakistan have broad space for cooperation in this field.”

In addition, Pakistan is also a key country for China’s international wind power cooperation. Liberty1&Liberty2 50MW Wind Power Project signed in 2020 and contracted by PowerChina, Gul Ahmed, Actll, Artictic wind power projects and ACT II project contracted by GoldWind group was cited as key case.

The report also mentions important activities and consensus between Pakistan and China in the renewable energy sector in 2020: On 25 March 2020, the CPEC Energy Cooperation Working Group held its eighth meeting via video and exchanged their views on related layout, situations and details of renewable energy cooperation under CPEC.

On 21 September 2020, the National Energy Administration of China and the Ministry of Energy of Pakistan signed the Agreement on the Adjustment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Energy Project List (2020), in which the two sides reached consensus on adjustment principles and the list.

Zhou said at the conference: “Despite the severe test of the epidemic, the energy cooperation projects under CPEC have been still making steady progress, building a bridge for bilateral cooperation, and the cooperation in renewable energy has made remarkable achievements.

Regarding the deep friendship between Pakistan and China, China will firmly continue to support Pakistan’s energy transformation so as the iron-brothers can fulfil the sustainable development goal together.”

BEIJING, Aug. 3 (DNA): FORTUNE released Annual Fortune Global 500 List. Of the 143 Chinese companies on the list, more than half have invested or conducted business cooperation in Pakistan, demonstrating Chinese companies’ confidence in Pakistan’s future economic development.

According to China Economic Net, 143 Chinese companies, including those from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the island of Taiwan, dominated this year’s Fortune Global 500 List, making China No.1 on the list for a second consecutive year.

In 2020, the number of Chinese companies stood at 133, the first time China’s number surpassed the US.

According to incomplete statistics, among them, at least 75 Chinese enterprises from different sectors, including energy, infrastructure, automobile, telecommunication and Household Appliances, have operations in Pakistan or participated in CPEC projects, bringing money, advanced technology and managerial expertise to Pakistan.

China’s State Grid ranked second on the list, right behind the US-based retail tycoon Walmart. Two other Chinese companies made the top 10, namely China National Petroleum and Sinopec Group.

State Grid corporation of China is the executor of the ±660kV Matiari-Lahore high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project. The project was recently commented by Pakistani Energy Minister Hammad Azhar as a safe guard to the power system of the country.

As many as 34 Chinese automobile manufacturers were on this year’s list. The revenue and profitability of China’s state-owned companies such as SAIC motor, FAW Group, Dongfeng Group and GAC group showed an upward trend while the annual rankings of multinational car companies such as Volkswagen, Daimler, Ford and Honda fell one after another.

SAIC motor, ranking 60 on the list, recently declared to scale up its vehicle manufacture in Pakistan via its local joint venture.

Its plant’s renovation will be finished by the end of this month and locally produced vehicles will soon enter the Pakistani car market. China FAW Group, ranking 66 on the list, is the co-launcher of Pakistan’s first locally assembled Chinese car, FWA-V2.

61 Chinese private enterprises hit the list as well. 3 internet-related companies, China’s JD Group, Alibaba, Tencent stood at 59,63 and 132. All 3 of the internet giants have actively participated in the realization of Digital-Pakistan.

In 2018, Alibaba acquired Pakistan-based online retailer Daraz Group, which helped develop the country’s e-commerce market.
In terms of mobile phone companies, the rankings of Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi have also improved. Huawei rose from 49th last year to 44th this year. Lenovo Group ranks 159, up 65 places from last year.

Xiaomi secured the largest increase in rankings by 84 places, and became “top 500 enterprises with the fastest growth in the global Internet and retail industry”. Only 2 weeks ago, the company announced to set up its assembly unit in Pakistan for the next 3-4 months.

Huawei, ranking 44, has been working with Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) since 2015. The company aims to provide technical training regarding 5G, cloud computing, AI, smart home, IoT and cyber-security to talented Pakistani youngsters. So far, the company has helped 87 Pakistani students.

Overall,Chinese companies’ revenue and profitability remained largely stable. With average sales revenue of US$66.1 billion and profit of US$3.5 billion, the companies are beating the global averages of US$63.4 billion and US$3.3 billion.

ISLAMABAD: /DNA/ – “Pakistan is a victim of proxy terrorism, not extremist militancy,” said senior journalist and author Mr Imtiaz Gul. Therefore, he urged greater vigilance and surveillance of the border regions of Afghanistan with Pakistan, which had experienced their fair share of militant violence in the past. He was speaking at a webinar on the future of peace in Afghanistan organized by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here on Tuesday.

Gul asserted that Pakistan had been playing a constructive role in bringing peace to Afghanistan through actions such as bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, facilitating a breakthrough deal between the Taliban and the US for the withdrawal of Nato troops, and making all efforts to make the intra-Afghan dialogue a success.

Gul stressed that internal Afghan conflicts had the potential to impact the entire region. He was of the opinion that Afghan stakeholders could not defeat each other militarily in the short run and, thus, needed to sit across the table to sort out their differences. This, he argued, would save the people of Afghanistan from unnecessary bloodshed and misery. He further stated that the US military involvement in Afghanistan had come to an end and that there was no possibility of further military intervention by the US or NATO forces in the country.

Emphasizing the socio-political changes in Afghanistan, Gul pointed out that the Taliban had claimed that they would safeguard human rights, including women rights and would avoid upsetting their regional supporters. He cautioned, however, that the Taliban were a conservative tribal force and expecting a sudden change in their behaviour and world view wouldn’t be correct. He was of the view that the international community could also play its role in making sure that the Taliban came with a reformed governance approach. 

Furthermore, he highlighted that Pakistan needed to go on an information offensive to offset the Afghan narrative regarding the Durand Line. He was of the opinion that the existing Afghan refugees in Pakistan were no longer an economic burden because they had integrated into the economy.  However, he expressed his concern that further influx could be damaging to Pakistan’s economy. “The need of the hour is smart diplomacy, vision, and farsightedness,” he said.

Dr Naheed Goraya, Associate Professor at Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS), underlined that peace could only be achieved through understanding and not war. She added that any forced settlement could lead to a protracted situation of conflict in Afghanistan. She also mentioned that Afghan society had changed in the past two decades since the Taliban held sway, which could affect the outcome of the peace talks as well as the future of Afghanistan. Further elaborating, Goraya said that attainment of peace would be a long process and would require political will of all stakeholders. “Pakistan can help as a facilitator but cannot impose anything on the Afghans,” she said.

Goraya also stressed on the importance of reconciliation along with the peace process and withdrawal of troops as vital elements for peace. “The next 5-10 years would be very difficult for Afghanistan, even with an optimistic outlook,” she said. She also mentioned the importance of neighbours of Afghanistan refraining from engaging in proxy wars. She further underscored the important role that Pakistan needed to play in being a partner in socio-economic development of Afghanistan.

President IRS, Ambassador Nadeem Riyaz, stated that the situation in Afghanistan impacted the entire region, especially Pakistan The Ambassador further stated that even though it was a complicated situation which one found hard to predict, Afghans needed to be in the driving seat in determining their own future. He added that political stability Afghanistan and the region would lead to economic prosperity, which was imperative for the future of South Asia.