New Delhi: More than two dozen Chinese companies operating in Pakistan have said they will shut down their power plants in the country this month if payments towards $1.59 billion dues (300 billion in Pakistani rupees) were not made upfront. This was conveyed to the Pakistan government Monday when Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal met over 30 Chinese companies operating in the country, leading news daily Dawn reported.
The 30-odd companies are operating in the country under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship multi-billion-dollar venture, in various areas including energy, communication and railways.
The Chinese companies had come with a long list of complaints, including complex visa procedures, taxation etc, but the Pakistani side presented counter complaints on “delayed responses to their communications”, the report quoted “informed sources” as saying.
According to the report, about 25 representatives from Chinese independent power producers (IPPs) spoke about the dues piling up, and warned that they would shut down within days unless payments were made upfront. They also said authorities were putting pressure on them to maximise power generation to meet peak summer demands but “this is impossible for us in view of serious liquidity issues”.
Minister Ahsan Iqbal reportedly assured the Chinese companies that new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already taken notice of the situation, and asked the relevant departments to make arrangements for the payments. He said their financial difficulties would be eased out within this month, the report said.
An official statement said the meeting lasted over three hours during which the Chinese investors “appreciated” the initiative of direct interaction, and also hoped that all issues would be resolved to ensure success of all CPEC projects pending for over three years.
Confidence In Pakistan’s Security Shaken After Karachi University Attack?
Meanwhile, there are unrelated reports that Chinese workers in Pakistan are feeling edgy after the suicide attack outside the University of Karachi last month in which three Chinese nationals lost their lives.
"The Chinese confidence in Pakistan’s security system’s ability to protect their citizens and their projects is seriously shaken,” a Dawn report quoted Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Senate Defence Committee, as saying.
Mushahid led a Senate delegation to the Chinese embassy earlier this month to express condolences.
The three Chinese nationals who died were teachers from Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi. An institute van carrying them was entering the university when an explosion triggered by a woman suicide bomber from the Baluchistan Liberation Army ripped through it.
The April 26 attack was the third terror strike on Chinese citizens in Pakistan in a year.