BEIJING: Chinese and Pakistani construction giants -China Energy Engineering Company (CEEC) and Zahir Khan Brothers (ZKB) Construction Company have decided to work together to explore opportunities in the construction sector of Pakistan.
The two companies, in a meeting hosted by Commercial Section of Embassy of Pakistan, Beijing, discussed ways and means to take advantage of up to $ 3 billion of projects in road infrastructure sector to be available in Pakistan this year, according to Badar uz Zaman, Commercial Counselor.
“They will also work together to tap opportunities in the special economic zone construction, and buildings for the new factories.
The estimation of the construction activities is around more than $ 2 billion. So, the joint venture having a great experience in the building sector has also agreed to work together,” he told.
Badar stated as both companies specialize in road construction projects, they have a strong record. Particularly CEEC has done many projects overseas.
And similarly, ZKB has also played its role in the large construction projects in Pakistan.
It is to be noted that in the backdrop of the construction package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan and a lot of growth in the construction sector, the joint venture and the memorandum of understanding between the two companies will enable their participation into many construction projects.
In Punjab, he said that there will be more than $ 400 million worth of water related projects this year, and these projects will also be targeted. Besides, many of these projects are financed b the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral fund.
The Commercial Counselor mentioned that Pakistan is experiencing a strong growth in the construction sector and there has been recorded uplift of cement in the country last month.
“The monthly uptake of cement is around six million tonnes. Similarly, the steel industry is also operating at its full capacity and nowadays, the construction industry is at its peak as well,” he added.
Badar said there is also a peak that has been observed in the construction sector from the private sector. So many developers have started many new projects this year. He informed that there is a strong trend of construction of high rise buildings, and both companies are specialized in the construction of high rise buildings.
“Both companies agreed to introduce skyscrapers to Pakistan similar to China’s because the high urban population density causes space limitation in cities,” he stated.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has already underlined to raise the cities vertically to meet the problems of transportation and communication faced by the dense populated areas.
He said large cities including Karachi are also facing water-related issues like the distribution of fresh water and tankers. Sometimes, the distribution is done through tankers. So, the pipelines are required to be laid from home to home and to the factories.
The main cities like Karachi, Lahore Hyderabad and Faisalabad face flooding during rainy weather or monsoon. – Agencies
