By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Board of Investment (BOI) has facilitated MoU signing between Optima Integration Group, China Optima Integration Group, China and Asia Pak Investments.
A statement of the Prime Minister office of the BOI issued here on Monday said, Pakistan in spirit to enhance Business to Business (B2B) Agricultural Cooperation between Pakistan and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday, May 23,2022 under the auspices of Board of Investment (BoI).
Federal Minister Board of Investment, Chaudhry Salik Hussain was the chief guest of the event and Secretary BOI Ms. Fareena Mazhar also participated in the ceremony. The signatories included Mr. Sam Siu, Chairman, Optima Integration Group and Mr. Eusha Saleem Bajwa, CEO, Sino Pak Optima Technologies (SPOT). Federal Minister BOI appreciated the interest of Chinese side in Agriculture & Livestock sector of Pakistan particularly, Fish & Seafood industry.
The Minister informed the participating parties about the establishment of Pakistan-China Business and Investment Forum (PCBIF) which is the result of joint efforts of Board of Investment (BOI), Chinese Embassy and All-Pakistan Chinese Enterprises’ Association (APCEA) and comprises of leading Pakistani and Chinese companies.
The project between the signing parties will comprise setting up an end-to-end supply chain for seafood export (79 species of fish are approved by General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) for export from Pakistan to China), to be produced in Pakistan and transported to China for consumption there.
The statement further said that it will include a high-tech processing facility and related technology transfer. In the first phase, the estimated investment will be around USD 50Million and will create more than 100 jobs in Gwadar and Karachi in Fishing, Power and Logistics sectors.
In the long run, the Project will expand from fish to beef and goat – starting off with exporting beef with cold chain transport, then scaling with Chinese standard breeding, feedlot operations, vaccinations, track & trace technology, and slaughter & pack facilities in Karachi.
The federal Minister congratulated both the companies on successful signing of the MoU and encouraged Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan.
He assured the Chinese investors of concerted efforts from BOI’s side to facilitate the potential investors.
