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Updated March 16th, 2023 at 11:27 IST

China's Telecom Giant Sunwalk Group to invest USD 2 Billion in Pakistan's Telecom Industry

Pakistan will develop an optical fibre network covering an area of 1,00,000 kilometers as Chinese Sunwalk group to invest USD 2 billion in telecom industry.

Reported by: Vidit Baya
Chinese
Image: AP | Image:self
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China's Sunwalk Group plans to invest USD 2 billion in Pakistan's cash-strapped telecom industry for the installation of an optical fibre network. Over a period of time, this optical fibre network will cover an area of 1,00,000 kilometers in Pakistan, the Business Recorder reported. 

On Tuesday a high-level delegation from the Sunwalk Group, led by chairman HOU, met Pakistan's Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Syed Aminul Haque. Investment in telecom infrastructure, optical fibre cable (OFC), and right-of-way (RoW) were topics of discussion during the meeting.

The Chinese firm has acquired the Telecom Infrastructure Provider licence

According to Business Recorder, Sunwalk (Pvt) Ltd., a telecom and technology-based international private Chinese firm, has acquired the Telecom Infrastructure Provider (TIP) License in Pakistan. The said firm has developed numerous telecom and communication infrastructure projects in China.

The company began deployment with an investment of roughly USD 5 million and has the goal of deploying 5,000 kilometres of OFC in the following stage. The delegation was informed at the meeting by Pakistan's minister that discussions with the Ministry of Railways and Highways Authority on the Right-of-Way to laying OFC are underway. He promised all barriers regarding that will be removed soon.

Rollover of USD 1.3 billion in facilities for Pakistan

According to HOU, they have a long-standing partnership with Pakistan and they serve a variety of industries there. Beijing's actions demonstrate that relations between China and Pakistan are as cordial as always. The Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has also approved the rollover of USD 1.3 billion facilities for Pakistan.

Taking to Twitter, Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced, "Formalities completed [and] Chinese Bank, ICBC approved rollover of USD 1.3 billion facilities which has been repaid by Pakistan to ICBC in recent months." He added that the facility would be paid out in three installments, with the State Bank of Pakistan having already received the first tranche, worth USD 500 million. It will improve forex reserves, he further said. 

Pakistan is currently dealing with significant economic difficulties, including high inflation, declining foreign exchange reserves,a widening current account deficit, and a sinking currency. As of February 24, there were only USD 3.8 billion in foreign exchange reserves, barely enough to cover one month's worth of imports. The amount of USD 9 billion in liquid foreign exchange reserves includes USD 5.5 billion in net reserves which are held by commercial banks.

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Published March 16th, 2023 at 11:27 IST

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