By Wang Kai

 

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 15 (China Economic Net) - "Looking back on the past year, one of the good things for Pakistan's economy was that China reopened its border, which is good not only for Pakistan’s economy, but also for the global economy", Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan and member of the Pakistan Climate Change Council said in an exclusive interview with China Economic Net (CEN). 

 

“Take Pakistan as an example, as a close trade partner of China, Pakistan was able to increase its exports to China”, he added.

 

In the 1st half of FY 2023-24 (July-December), Pakistan’s exports to China surged by 66.4%, reaching US$1.5458 billion, attesting to the tremendous potential of China as the second largest consumer market in the world. 

 

"I'm quite optimistic about China's economy. The way it handles the risks in real estate has shown resilience. And the demand is there. As the Chinese economy is taking up, Pakistan, as with many other countries that are economically interrelated with China, would be able to get the benefit of it", Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri told CEN.

 

In his opinion, technological advancement, innovation, and the booming service sector are driving China’s economy and shaping its bright prospects.

 

“If we look at the electric vehicles, Chinese automakers have been able to supply more new energy vehicles than Tesla”, he exemplified, adding that Pakistan can benefit from China's renewable energy experience, by setting up joint ventures for example, to transition from a traditional economy to a climate-friendly and green economy.

 

"For long, it was seen that going green would have a negative impact on growth. That hypothesis is no longer valid. Now, countries, aware that the cost of protection is high, have to go green”, he observed. 

 

“But the cost of transition is high. So at the multilateral level, we should keep talking about climate justice and the historical responsibility of advanced economies”, he suggested. 

 

At the bilateral level, he said Pakistan needs to strengthen its technological and financial cooperation with China to benefit from China's experience in areas like climate-smart agriculture, digital technologies, big data and other smart practices.

 

“By harmonizing standards on both sides, crossing language barriers, facilitating government operations, promoting business-to-business context and people-to-people relationship, bilateral exchanges can be further promoted”, he added.