The Pakistani government is providing facilities for foreign investment which will play an important role in the country’s development, Chinese Charge d’Affaires Pang Chunxue has said.

The comment from the Chinese envoy about the revival of Pakistani authorities’ support for foreign investors comes in a specific context provided by a former Pakistani ambassador, who says in the past Pakistan shunned Chinese industrialists.

Both the Chinese Charge d’Affaires and the former Pakistani ambassador spoke on on Aaj News show Rubaroo which was aired on Sunday.

Pang Chunxue said the CPEC had entered its second phase.

“Infrastructure work was done in the first phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” she said “Now, attention is being paid to the promotion of agriculture, IT and industries” in the second phase.

The multi-billion dollar project, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, has been described as a “game changer” by Pakistani leaders. Over the past many years, the country has offered CPEC to other friendly countries and asked them to reap the benefits of the corridor project.

Road construction and different economic zones were built in the first phase of the CPEC in different parts of Pakistan.

Pang Chunxue was of the view that foreign investment was crucial for development.

Former Pakistan’s ambassador to China Masood Khalid shared that Chinese investors wanted to set up industries in Pakistan but they were not provided facilities. But now the facilities were being provided for investment, he said and added that they wanted to resolve issues by sitting with Chinese friends.

Khalid went on to add that the most important thing in the success of CPEC was “security”. He added that CPEC projects have been provided complete security.

“The problem of payments in dollars is also very serious, due to our shortcomings, progress on CPEC was slow,” he said.

Interim federal minister Jamal Shah said that economic progress was being focused during cabinet meetings.

He alleged that the 2014 sit-in was staged to stop CPEC as the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping was postponed. With CPEC, Shah said there would be economic progress in Pakistan.

PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said that CPEC has completed 10 years under which many projects were started.

“CPEC was affected by sit-ins and unpleasant incidents,” he lamented and added that development work was affected due to floods.