RTC on “Reforming the State-Owned Enterprises of Pakistan – Learning from China & BRI”

Pakistan Institute for Development Economics (PIDE), Al-Aman Holding and the Centre of Excellence, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) jointly organized Round Table Conference (RTC) on Reforming the State-Owned Enterprises of Pakistan-Learning from China & BRI Countries. Propose to convene the first of a series of conferences to deliberate on what lessons can be learned from the experience of reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China and Pakistan, in order to ensure that SOEs in the two countries can play their proper role in CPEC and the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).                                           The participants included were H.E. Yao Jing, Ambassador People’s Republic of China to Pakistan Dr. Asad Zaman, Vice-Chancellor, PIDE. Mr. Istaqbal Mehdi, Chairman, Al-Aman (Pvt) Ltd, Dr. Arshad Zaman, former Chief Economist, Planning Commission, Dr. Shahid Rashid, Executive Director, Centre of Excellence, CPEC and other dignitaries.                       Dr. Shahid Rashid welcomed the dignitaries and explained the need to conduct an RTC on such an important issue to outline the preliminary thoughts for consideration and development of SOEs by the government. H.E Yao Jing was the Chief guest at the occasion who overviewed the Chinese “opening up” reforms from 1978 till present. He also narrated as to how China built its economic strength over the years in different phases while introducing and implementing further reforms in the SOEs sectors.                                   The key to SOEs development in China relies on two factors: management and ownership. Management was modernized, aligned and tailored according to the Chinese way of development while ownership still pertains to the state, he said. Moreover, he believed, “sharing experiences” from our both countries can enable Pakistan to progress in the SOEs sector. Dr. Asad Zaman, VC PIDE explained the importance of SOEs and stressed that Pakistan needs to introduce both economic and social reforms in the right direction and China can help us a great in this respect. The other participants discussed at length the importance of SOEZs reform and concluded that this meeting was fruitful and should be followed by further consultations in the future; and that we obtain suggestions on how it can be improved to better serve the two governments and research communities.