ISLAMABAD, NOV 23: A Chinese steel giant, Century Steel Group has threatened to withdraw its investment and shut down operation in Pakistan, if its demands were not met.
The steel group relayed this in a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In the letter, Century Steel Group CEO Li Chunjian stated the company had reached the decision to wrap up its business and withdraw investment from the country as the government departments, responsible for handling foreign direct investment (FDI) in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, failed to resolve multitude of their problems.
“This will be our last notice to the Government of Pakistan; if the problems are not resolved immediately, we will start dismantling the plant from the RSEZ,” the company said.
A senior government official stated that the prime minister has constituted a committee under Federal Minister for Communications, Privatisation and Board of Investment Abdul Aleem Khan to address all of the company’s complaints.
The committee consists of members from the KP and federal governments.
According to the steel group, they arrived in Pakistan with big goals and intended to build up the country’s biggest steel mill in three stages in the first RSEZ of CPEC in KP.
Over $30 million out of the $82 million invested in the project’s first phase was already underway, with an anticipated yearly production of 500,000 tonness of steel products.
