Chinese group considers investing in Pakistan’s IT, EV infrastructure

BEIJING: China’s GuoDong Group, a major player in the telecommunications industry, has shown keen interest in investing in Pakistan’s information and communication technology (ICT), energy, and electric vehicle infrastructure sectors.

The development comes as Pakistan steps up efforts to bring in foreign investment through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which is working to streamline and promote international business partnerships.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja met a three-member delegation from GuoDong Group in Shanghai, led by the company’s founder and chairman, Lu Jie. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Global Artificial Intelligence Conference. Both sides discussed various avenues of collaboration, particularly in telecom and green energy sectors.

According to a statement from the IT ministry, the Chinese delegation expressed “strong interest” in investing in Pakistan’s ICT sector, including telecom towers, data centres, and cloud computing infrastructure. Lu Jie also conveyed his company’s willingness to explore opportunities in EV charging stations, smart city technologies, and advanced material manufacturing.

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A separate meeting was also held in Beijing where Minister Shaza Fatima invited the GuoDong delegation to visit Islamabad for further discussions on potential partnerships. She assured them of the government’s full support in facilitating their business ventures in Pakistan.

GuoDong Group is considered one of China’s leading telecom firms and its interest is seen as a positive sign at a time when Pakistan is recovering from an economic crisis and aiming to rebuild investor confidence.

In recent months, the government has been pushing forward with initiatives to encourage investment in future-ready technologies. In May, Pakistan allocated 2,000 megawatts of power in the first phase of a national plan to support AI and crypto mining data centres. Under the New Electric Vehicle Policy 2025–2030, the country is also aiming for 30 per cent of all new vehicles sold by 2030 to be electric.

The government hopes that fresh foreign investments, particularly in tech and green energy, will help drive sustainable economic growth in the coming years.

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