Chinese company to invest in bus manufacturing plant in Pakistan

Renowned Chinese company Yutong Bus has reportedly expressed interest in investing in inter-city and intra-city bus services in Pakistan's Sindh province.

According to an Express Tribune report, a 11-member delegation of Yutong Bus, led by its General Manager Shi Cun Tu, interacted with Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) Chairperson Naheed Memon at her office on Tuesday, and expressed in interest in thsi regard. Both sides discussed various aspects of the transport-linked investment plan.

Memon was informed that Yutong Bus is very keen to invest money into the running of buses on different routes in Karachi and is also interested in setting up a manufacturing plant for the purpose.

Memon welcomed the offer and noted that there were many opportunities of investment in the transport sector in Sindh and the provincial government would continue to encourage public-private partnership projects.

She asked the Chinese delegation to come up with suggestions on the basis of their priorities so that the Sindh government could take further steps.

The Sindh government is set to allocate Rs.3.19 billion for the transport and mass transit system in the budget for fiscal 2017-18, a source in the Sindh Finance Department, was quoted by the paper, as saying.

The allocation includes Rs.2.29 billion for 11 new schemes for inter-city and intra-city transport services in the province. The provincial government is considering initiating multiple road transportation projects like the Green Line project launched by the federal government in Karachi.

The projects eyed by the Sindh government include Bus Rapid Transport Service (BRTS) Red Line, BRTS Blue Line and BRTS Yellow Line. All the three projects are for Karachi, the business hub of Pakistan.

Other transportation schemes include expansion in road and circular railway networks within and among cities including Karachi, Jacobabad and Khairpur, the source said.

Apart from these, the 11 new schemes comprise construction of a bus terminal in Garhi Khairo, Jacobabad; construction of integrated Intelligent Transportation System for Karachi and upgrading of traffic signals (second phase) in multiple cities including Karachi.

The provincial government is scheduled to announce the budget on June 5, 2017.

Meanwhile, in a related business development involving both Pakistan and China, the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) in Pakistan has issued a Letter of Interest (LoI) to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) for developing the power project in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan.

The Express Tribune said that PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza and CCCC Vice President Xu Jun signed a document in thsi regard, and now the latter will seek tariff approval from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and start construction work after achieving financial close.

CPEC?s Joint Cooperation Committee and the PPIB board have already approved the power project for further processing.

Gwadar is blessed with a warm-water, deep-sea port situated on the Arabian Sea. The port features prominently in the CPEC framework and is considered a crucial link between the ambitious One Belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Road projects. (ANI with inputs)

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(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)