The Board of Investment and Chinese textile firm RUYI Shandong signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, under which the company will establish textile parks of international standards in Pakistan.Â
The initiative aims to boost the country’s textile exports to $5 billion and create around 0.5 million jobs.
The MoU was signed during a meeting between a nine-member delegation from RUYI Group, led by Chairman Qiu Yafu, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. This development follows the prime minister’s recent visit to China, marking a significant step in furthering Chinese investment in Pakistan.
According to the MoU, RUYI will establish textile parks in Sindh and Punjab, where around 100 Chinese textile firms will be invited to invest.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the enduring friendship between Pakistan and China, noting that bilateral economic ties were strengthening with each passing day. He welcomed the RUYI Group’s investment in Pakistan’s textile sector and recalled that the company was the first investor in the Sahiwal Coal Power Plant, developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Briefing the prime minister, the RUYI Group chairman said that the textile parks would aim to boost textile exports and make Pakistan a hub for textiles and garments. The parks, powered by solar energy, will be developed as zero-carbon and automated facilities. In the first phase, exports are expected to reach $2 billion, and in the second phase, $5 billion, while creating 0.3 to 0.5 million jobs.
The meeting was informed that work on the textile parks would begin by the end of this year, with completion expected within three years. The Chinese company also plans to establish wholesale commodity centers in Karachi and Lahore.
It was decided during the meeting to form working groups in Islamabad and Beijing to further pursue the initiative.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also formed a special committee under Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, comprising federal ministers for commerce, investment and privatization, industries and production, the foreign secretary, a representative of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, and Zafaruddin Mehmood.
Chairman Qiu Yafu emphasized that RUYI Group had come to Pakistan not just as an investor but as a friend. He also referred to “Shehbaz Speed,” a term used to describe the rapid execution of development projects under Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as Punjab chief minister, expressing hope for a similar pace in the textile park project.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Industries and Production Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, Power Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, and other senior officials attended the meeting.
