ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Tuesday that Islamabad will issue online visas to Chinese citizens from Aug. 14, saying the move would make it much easier for Chinese businesspersons to visit Pakistan and promote their business interests.
Facing a prolonged economic crisis that has forced it to seek financial assistance from friendly nations and global lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamabad has increasingly sought to introduce ease of business policies for international businesspersons and investors.
Pakistan last month announced it had made changes to its visa policy by increasing the number of countries exempt from visa fees to 126. The decision came in the wake of Pakistan’s efforts to forge deeper economic and trade ties with regional allies to stabilize a fragile economy.
“From August 14, Chinese citizens will be provided visas online,” Naqvi was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s interior ministry. The minister was speaking to a Chinese business delegation led by Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren in Lahore.
“This will make it very easy for Chinese businesspersons to come to Pakistan.”
Both sides also discussed security measures for Chinese nationals in Pakistan, who have suffered attacks in recent months. The latest of these attacks took place on Mar. 26, when five Chinese workers were killed in a suicide attack while they were on their way to the Dasu hydropower project in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
“Safety of Chinese citizens is our top priority,” Naqvi said. “Chinese citizens will be provided every possible facility for business. We have made standard operating procedures for a security plan for the safety of Chinese nationals,” he added.
The three-hour meeting between the two sides was attended by officials from the Punjab and federal governments, the interior ministry said.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan, which has pledged over $65 billion for road, rail and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Beijing has also over the years readily provided financial assistance to bail out its often-struggling neighbor, including in July last year when China granted Pakistan a two-year rollover on a $2.4 billion loan, giving the debt-saddled nation much-needed breathing space as it tackled a balance-of-payments crisis.
