China - Pakistan Economic Corridor - CPEC
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Pakistani seafood gaining popularity in Chinese market
Beijing – Seafood from Pakistan is gaining in popularity in China, not only because of its low prices but also because of support from government policies.
A report from the UK-based in December 2016 said that China had overtaken the EU and Japan at that point to become the largest seafood export market for Pakistan.
“Currently, domestic demand exceeds supply in terms of Pakistani seafood imports,” Chen Hai’ou, president of Kashgar Mufeng and Hezhengyuan Biotechnology Co, told the Global Times.
Several seafood distributors said that Pakistani seafood, compared with seafood imported from other sources, is more cost-effective.
In recent years, the Chinese government has rolled out measures that have encouraged and facilitated imports of seafood from Pakistan and India.
One example is the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the one Belt and one Road initiative, which has enriched the transportation channels for Pakistani seafood to enter China.
According to Chen, in the past, Pakistani seafood could enter China only via sea or air transport. But, after the corridor was set up, his company started importing Pakistani seafood by land transportation via Pakistan’s Gwadar Port as well as via Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
“Pakistani seafood needs to travel only for three days via land transportation to China, compared with 40 days by the sea, so the cash conversion cycle can be much shorter,” Chen said, adding that the seafood will be sold in northwestern and southwestern regions in China.
Chen also said that with the large demand for seafood in those regions, as well as the lower transportation costs, more companies will engage in seafood trade with Pakistan. “The business has a promising future,” he said.
Apart from transportation, the government has also lowered import tariffs on many types of seafood such as frozen crabs and shrimps, starting from December 2017.
Most observers believed that more international air cargo routes between Pakistan and China’s inland cities are needed to enhance seafood and fruits exports from Pakistan to China.
They agree that seafood and fruit can become bright spots in Pakistan’s exports to China, and the only question is how this potential can be realized.
Although the CPEC is designed to connect the Gwadar Port in Southwest Pakistan with Kashgar, most of the seafood sold in Xinjiang is transferred from the southeast coast of China, which is thousands of kilometers away.
Before Urumqi airport became licensed as a designated port of entry for imported chilled and fresh aquatic products last year, it took seven to 10 days for such imports to be transferred to inland Xinjiang after arriving on the southeast coast.
It is now feasible to meet Xinjiang consumers’ demand for seafood with Pakistan’s high-quality products, and this will certainly expand China’s imports from the South Asian countries.
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coal power plant tariff sought at Rs8.9 per unit for 30 years...
The CIHC Pak Power Company has submitted to Nepra the petition of coal-based power plant of 300 MW at Gwadar port seeking a levelised tariff of Rs8.9 per unit for 30 years. The internal rate of return (IRR) of the project will be 17 percent.
Nepra has been asked for the two-part tariff consisting Rs9.57 per unit for first 12.5 years and Rs8.49 per unit for the period from 12.5 years to 30 years. The fuel consumption of the plant will be based on the thermal efficiency of 37 percent and the coal of South Africa will be used for the power generation.
The project will be completed in 30 months at the cost of $542.32 million that include engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) cost of $369.88 million, interest during cost (IDC) of $32.90 million, expenditure in the heads of withholding tax, sales tax and custom duty valuing $40.11 million, non-EPC cost of $10.64million, project development costs of $21.03 million, company and sponsor cost of $26.84 million, insurance during construction $3.70 million, O & M mobilisation $6.49 million, non-reimbursable fuel and start-up cost prior to synchronisation $3.44 million, SINOSURE fee during construction $9.21 million, and financing fee and charges of $13.12 million.
Currently the whole Gwadar depends upon the 70 MW of electricity being imported from Iran. Of this, 14 MW is being provided to Gwadar port alone while the rest of 56 MW is being utilised by Makran Coastal areas. The project will be constructed on built, own, operate (BOO) basis based on imported coal.
The most shocking part of the petition is that debt payments, all taxes that include income tax, withholding tax, corporate tax, payments to workers welfare fund, Zakat deduction on dividends, Balochistan government taxes will be treated as pass-through items apart from the imported coal cost that is projects to be at $102 per metric ton. About 207 acres of land will be acquired for the project at the price of $5 million and government of Balochistan has started the process for the acquisition of land.
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CPEC to produce 40,000 jobs of Chinese Language interpreters....
Chairman TEVTA has said CPEC project will produce about 40,000 jobs of Chinese Language interpreters. he said TEVTA is preparing youth to avail the job opportunities by teaching them Chinese language.The Chairman said professional Chinese teachers have been hired who are teaching students as well as training new teachers.
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SECMC, Reon to install Pakistan’s largest private sector solar power plant at ....
KARACHI With an aim to limit carbon emissions and thereby help protect the environment, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and Reon Energy Ltd have entered an agreement to install 5MWs solar power plant at Thar Coal Block II.This will be the largest solar energy project for captive utilisation to date, in Pakistan . The plant will provide considerable savings in energy-costs, along with an expected reduction of 3,150 metric tonnes in the annual carbon-emissions. SECMC will have the option to extend the contract during or after project completion, wherein Reon will operate it for the period of 15 years and then hand over the operations to SECMC , said an official release issued here.A signing ceremony was held at the premises of SECMC in Thar Coal Block II.
The agreement was signed by CEO of Reon Mujtaba Haider Khan and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SECMC , Syed Abul Fazl Rizvi. The ceremony was witnessed by CEO of SECMC Shamsuddin Shaikh and Director Site Operations Syed Murtaza Azhar Rizvi.Speaking on the occasion, Abul Fazl Rizvi said, “The 5MWs solar energy system will contribute benefits equivalent to planting of about 220,000 trees and will be the largest private solar PPA in the country.” “This is also the first-ever initiative by a mining company in Pakistan to install solar power plant for it mining operations,” he added.CEO of Reon Energy, Mujtaba Haider Khan stated: “Pakistan enjoys a geo-strategic advantage for producing abundant amounts of solar energy. Advancement in solar technology has not only improved solar’s efficiency but has also led to a massive reduction in costs. This is a landmark project that’ll significantly reduce the operating cost and carbon footprint.”
Moreover, he said, it will provide dozens of skilled and unskilled jobs for the locals. “SECMC and Engro Energy are on a mission to transform the lives of ordinary Tharis and Reon Energy is proud to be partnering with them on that mission,” Khan added.Reon Energy Limited, part of the Dawood Hercules Co, is the largest industrial solar solutions provider in Pakistan . Reon brings with it unparalleled partnership stories from local and international groups such as Unilever, Coca Cola, Abbott, and Servis; whereas, SECMC is working on Pakistan’s first open-pit coal mine in the Thar Block II Islamkot, which is expected to start generating electricity through a mine-mouth power plant constructed by the Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL) at the end of the current year
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969 MW Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project under construction in Azad Kashmir .
969 MW Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project in AJK, has been 98% completed.
The first unit of the project is scheduled to go into operation by the end of March 2018 followed by the second unit in mid-April and third and fourth units in May 2018.
On its completion, the project will contribute about five billion units of electricity to the national grid annually. Annual revenue of the project is estimated to be Rs50 billion.
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NHA Arranging Additional Funds For Malakand Tunnel Project....
National Highway Authority (NHA) is in process of arranging additional US$ 85 million for Malakand Tunnel Project as now it has been decided to build two-tunnels instead of one tunnel to accommodate traffic volume.It is worth a mention 14 kilometre Malakand Pass located at Dargai - Batkhela on Nowshehra-Chitral Highway is situated in hilly terrain with steep slope.
The Malakand tunnel project would also reduce pressure of traffic on Torkham Road because it would link Dir-Chitral with Tajikistan and other Central Asian Republics.
