[ad_1]
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 21 (ANI): Pakistan’s Foreign Investment (Promotion and Protection) Bill, 2022 is mired in controversy. According to the Financial Post, the purpose of the bill is to promote and protect certain “qualified foreign investments” that are beneficial and in the national interest, in order to attract large-scale foreign investment of $500 million or more.
According to news reports, the new bill is “very much in line with China’s playbook of sausage slicing and annexing territories” to advance its own geostrategic ambitions. Addressing the parliament, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that with the approval of the bill, Balochistan will receive about US$3.5-40 billion in RekoDiq project benefits over 30 years.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Senate gave a green signal to amendments to the recently approved foreign investment law in an attempt to limit the scope of the legislation in Balochistan, Dawn newspaper reported. Passage of the bill faced controversy due to the RekoDiq controversy. The RekoDiq open-pit mine, located in the Chagai district of Balochistan, is one of the largest copper-gold reserves in the world, with an estimated ore reserve of more than 5.9 billion tons.
Canada’s Barrick Gold, Chile’s Antofagasta and the Balochistan provincial government signed a mining agreement in 2006 on a revenue-sharing basis, the Financial Post reported. But the project was halted in 2011 after the provincial government refused to agree to renew Tethyan Copper’s lease. The World Bank arbitration tribunal ICSID accepted the case and punished Pakistan for illegally refusing to mine.
In order to attract foreign investment, Pakistan has proposed this bill. However, the Act gives the federal government the power to notify any foreign investment project as a “qualified foreign investment” and provide such incentives as it sees fit, even if the investment is less than $500 million. Section 3(7) of the Act provides that the Commonwealth has no power to cancel any “qualifying investment” which has been included in the First Schedule.
The legislation “will enable China to effectively colonize Pakistan through its debt-trap diplomacy.”: ​​According to the Financial Post, the IMF raised concerns about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in its 2022 report. According to the “Financial Post” report, since Pakistan needs to repay more than 30% of its total foreign debt to China, the new bill will play a very good role in China’s plan to “cut salami from Pakistani territory”.
According to news reports, China is Pakistan’s largest bilateral creditor with loans totaling over $14.5 billion. Loans have been made under various other categories, including China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which has lent over $7 billion to Pakistan. In addition, a significant portion of Chinese loans go to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, underscoring the strategic intent behind the loans.
Chinese companies have completed some CPEC projects and made several other investments. China bought a 40% stake in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) company. Beijing is also looking to buy a power company in Karachi, one of Pakistan’s largest energy companies, according to news reports.
Hulam Ali, secretary-general of the Karachi People’s Workers’ Party, said that several oil exploration blocks in Sindh province are being handed over to Chinese companies. Besides Gwadar Port, Chinese companies are also developing an airport and several other major projects in Balochistan.
With this new legislation, China will “loot wantonly in this country with the connivance of Pakistani political and military elites,” depriving the Pakistani people of growth, livelihoods, and prosperity. Some lawmakers and Pakistani leaders expressed concern about the new legislation.
BNP-M chairman Sardar Akhtar Mengal expressed concern over the bill passed by the National Assembly overnight. Mengal claimed that Balochistan’s resources have been considered “maal-e-ghanimat” by foreigners and Pakistani elites. Housing and Works Minister Maulana Abdul Wasay opposed the bill, stressing that it would take away resources from the province without a voice for local governments. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link