BEIJING, Oct. 18: Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Oct 15 turned to Shanghai’s economy as a template for his province’s development, leading an investment drive in the Chinese financial hub that concluded with 34 memorandums of understanding and agreements, including 10 government-to-government and 24 business-to-business agreements across key sectors.
Speaking at the Sindh Investment Conference organized by the Sindh Investment Department and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Shanghai, the CM said Shanghai “has shown the world what vision, openness and hard work can achieve.” Shanghai and Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, have been sister cities since 1984, he added.
The CM presented Sindh’s investment advantages to an audience of over 100 Chinese and Pakistani companies, citing its location and connectivity, economic base and young workforce, and natural resources. He also highlighted the track record of Chinese investors already operating in Sindh as evidence of the potential of the province.
“Shanghai Electric’s Thar Block-1 project, which includes a 1,320-megawatt power plant, has been in commercial operation since 2023 and supplies electricity to millions of homes using local coal. CMEC operates the Thar Block-2 mine, China Three Gorges Corporation runs wind farms at Jhimpir, and Pakistan-China joint venture Long March Tyres in Nooriabad exports to the United States and Brazil. BYD sold more than 10,000 vehicles within months of entering the market,” he listed.
Looking ahead, the agreements witnessed by the Chief Minister and Syed Ali Asad Gillani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, cover energy and minerals, including coal-to-chemicals and the wider Thar value chain; electric vehicles and automotive manufacturing; digital transformation, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and smart cities; agriculture and food processing; and logistics, warehousing and trade, opening new channels for collaboration.
