May 02, 2016
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said ever-increasing economic cooperation between Pakistan and China require improved banking channels.
China is playing important role in development of Pakistan therefore all the major banks should immediately start efforts to expand their branch network in China, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that Chinese banks should also improve their visibility in Pakistan which is imperative for success of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He said that Pakistan’s debt market isn’t large enough to finance project like CPEC therefore all efforts should be undertaken to boost the local financial sector.
He said that CEPC will benefit Pakistan’s financial sector like all other major sectors of the economy and it will include textile and garment parks, powerhouses, nuclear installations, coal projects, oil and gas pipelines and road and railway network requiring state-of-the-art banking services.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that some international banks have cut down or abandoned their operations in Pakistan to regret it later. Pakistani banks should get benefit of the situation to offer services of international standard, he demanded.
He said that Pakistan is among the first three countries to promote Islamic finance on national level resulting in six Islamic banks which should also explore opportunities in CPEC to further strengthen Islamic financial system in the country.
The State Bank of Pakistan is doing a laudable job in strengthening and modernising the financial system and it should beef up efforts in this regard, he added.
Pakistan will get billions of dollars in transit fees once the CPEC is completed, he said.
