ISLAMAAD: A Chinese business delegation has expressed ‘deep interest’ in establishing a $1 billion medical city in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in Thatta, Sindh.

The development came during a visit by a high-powered delegation of 12 major Chinese companies, accompanied by Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Sindh on Investment and Public-Private Partnership, Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, to various sites of the Dhabeji SEZ on Wednesday. As per a statement issued by Sindh’s Investment Department, the Chinese business delegation expressed interest in investing across multiple sectors including cargo, electronic vehicles, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, solar and wind energy, livestock, and agriculture.

“The Chinese delegation expressed deep interest in establishing a medical city worth one billion dollars in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone,” read the statement. Moreover, the delegation also showed keen interest in setting up factories for manufacturing solar plates, solar inverters, and solar batteries, along with a factory to produce fertilizers that would utilize coal instead of gas, in collaboration with local partners. During the meeting, Qamar highlighted that the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone is a priority project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “This project is a prominent symbol of the lasting and proud friendship between China and Pakistan,” he said. Qamar told the Chinese delegation that land has been allocated for all kinds of industrial, commercial, and residential facilities in the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone.

He added there are attractive and vast investment opportunities in Sindh. DSEZ project at Thatta designed within CPEC framework Qamar emphasized the strategic advantages of the Dhabeji Zone, noting its prime location with respect to port, road, and railway networks, which will prove to be the most important economic zone in the province in terms of industrial development, technology transfer, and job creation. Secretary Investment Sindh Raja Khurram Shahzad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sindh Economic Zone Management Company Abdul Azim Aqili, CEO Global Ventures Idrees Jiji, and senior officials of the Sindh Investment Department were also present on this occasion