by Khalid Aziz

ISLAMABAD, July 10 (Gwadar Pro) – Chinese enterprises in Pakistan are actively involved in relief works as part of their corporate social responsibility, said speakers at a webinar on Friday.

The webinar, titled “Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility in Pakistan” was arranged by China Study Centre of COMSATS University, Islamabad.

Liu Rui, Second Secretary, Economic and Commercial Section at Chinese Embassy, Islamabad, Yang Jiangduo, chief representative of Power Construction Corp. of China (PowerChina), Yuan Nikola, manager business development HIKVision Pakistan, and Hassan Daud Butt, CEO KP BoI, were among the key speakers.

Liu Rui revealed that as of end 2020, around 250 Chinese enterprises have presence in Pakistan. Among them 160 had set up offices here. She said that these firms had built schools, hospitals, drinking water schemes and access roads in project areas together with their relief activities related to COVID-19 pandemic. She said that the Chinese enterprises were also actively involved in promoting cultural harmony between Chinese and local staff. She also sought suggestions from Pakistani academia regarding further improvements in CSR activities of Chinese enterprises in Pakistan.

Yuan Nikola said that Chinese enterprises were delivering knowledge and advance technology in Pakistan. He said that his firm HIKVision not only introduced cutting-edge data, security and surveillance solutions in Pakistan but also trained over 300 Pakistani individuals in China. He said that HIKVision also provided temperature detecting devices to Pakistan’s armed forces, the foreign ministry and other government organisations to fight COVID-19.

Yang, who is also Chairman of All-Pakistan Chinese Enterprises Association (APCEA), said that PowerChina distributed Rs20 million worth of relief goods in Pakistan in 2020. He said that all five members of the APCEA collectively spent over Rs50 million in relief works during the year.

Yang said that his organisation was equally celebrating both Chinese and Pakistani festivals to develop greater harmony among Chinese and Pakistani workers. He said that PowerChina had employed scores of local workers against hefty perks and privileges. He said that his firm was following guidelines of Chinese and Pakistani governments as well as the firm’s own initiatives to fulfill its CSR responsibilities.

CEO of KP’s Board of Investment and Trade spoke highly of the CSR culture in Chinese organisations. He said that the Chinese organisations were following the philosophy of Confucius, which put human value and dignity at the foremost. He said that China and Pakistan had strategic relationships, under which, he said, China is helping Pakistan in much more ways beyond the ordinary CSR concepts.