Pakistan pitches climate investment pipeline to China ahead of Beijing Trade Fair

ISLAMABAD, Aug 20 (APP): Pakistan on Thursday presented an investable pipeline of climate-resilient projects worth $4.85 billion to Chinese officials and business leaders at a high-level dialogue aimed at channeling Belt and Road Initiative financing toward climate-resilient development in climate-vulnerable countries.

The dialogue titled “Shared Future, Shared Prosperity: From Alignment to Amplification – Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs)” was jointly organized by the Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) Secretariat and the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), said a press release.

The event brought together senior government officials, diplomats, business representatives and climate-finance experts to explore how country-owned CPPs can align with Chinese finance, technology, and implementation partnerships.

The dialogue was held ahead of the CVF-V20 mission to the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2026 in Beijing and coincided with the 75th anniversary year of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations.

Pakistan’s CPP, launched this April by the Ministry of Finance, anchored the discussion. Its Investor Book of 69 selected projects spans eight priority sectors and was presented as a template for aligning BRI and the Green Investment and Finance Partnership (GIFP) with CPPs.

Ambassador Jauhar Saleem, President of the IRS, welcomed the participants and emphasized the need to translate strategic alignment into implementation. “The real objective is to identify how climate priorities can become investable opportunities and how cooperation can translate plans into transactions, projects and measurable development outcomes,” he said.

Chargé d’affaires Shi Yuanqiang of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China delivered remarks as Guest of Honor, highlighting the growing opportunities for China-Pakistan cooperation in green development. “Pakistan’s Climate Prosperity Plan provides a clear pathway and broad market space for enterprises from various countries, including Chinese companies, to make green investments in Pakistan,” he said. “On the path of responding to climate change and achieving green development, China has always stood firmly with Pakistan”

Reflecting on Pakistan’s progress,  Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, said, “CVF-V20 has helped Pakistan move from climate ambition to implementation. Through the Climate Prosperity Plan, we now have a country-owned pipeline that connects our national priorities with investment. China is a natural partner, with the technology, manufacturing capacity and finance to help turn these projects into jobs, resilience and green growth.”

Ms. Sara Jane Ahmed, Managing Director and V20 Finance Advisor of the CVF-V20 Secretariat, emphasized that the opportunity extends across the wider CVF-V20 membership. “Pakistan and other V20 countries are building a growing supply of country-owned, investable project opportunities. Those projects create real demand for technology, engineering, manufacturing and long-term partners. China brings a deep supply of exactly those capabilities. Our job is to make that two-sided market work.”

Hamza Haroon, Regional Director for West and South Asia at the CVF-V20 Secretariat, said the challenge facing vulnerable economies has never been a lack of ambition, but a lack of access to affordable finance, dependable technology, and reliable partners. “With CPPs now launched across many V20 members, we have country-owned pipelines that can be aligned with Chinese initiatives such as BRI and GIFP. At COP30, BRIGC and the Brazilian Development Bank announced plans to align GIFP with Brazil’s Country Platform, which shows this model is already put in practice,” he said. “That is how we move from planning to delivery, mobilizing the finance our projects need, on terms that are mutually beneficial.”

The panel discussion moderated by Anam Rathor, Program Lead, CVF-V20 Secretariat, examined the current landscape in China and CVF-V20 countries and reviewed conditions required to move projects from initial interest to due diligence and implementation, including project readiness, financing structures, CPEC 2.0 pathways, business-to-business partnerships, joint ventures, local manufacturing and climate and carbon finance. Ways to secure Climate and Carbon Finance for CPP Projects were also discussed.

Panelists included Nadeem Ahsan, Joint Secretary External Finance at the Ministry of Finance; Ambassador Naghmana Hashmi, former Ambassador of Pakistan to China; Mr. Wu Dawei, Secretary-General of the China Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan; Dr. Muzammil Zia, Project Director of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; Bilal Janjua, Vice President of the Pakistan China Commerce Alliance International; and Zulfiqar Younus, Senior Advisor, Climate Finance, CVF-V20 Secretariat.

Closing the dialogue, Dr. Syed Ali Asad Gillani, Pakistan’s Ambassador Designate to the People’s Republic of China, emphasized the importance of sustained follow-up. “I intend to make our embassy a working door for the partnerships that begin here,” he said. “A shared future is not something we wait to inherit. It is something we build, and I believe we have, today, agreed on how to begin.”

The high-level dialogue marks the beginning of a broader push. The CVF-V20 will  host a pavilion at CIFTIS 2026,  China’s biggest services sector fair, from September 9 to 13 in Beijing There, CVF-V20 countries will present project pipelines and partnership models to Chinese institutions, enterprises and investors, with the immediate objective of carrying forward a smaller set of priority opportunities backed by clearer counterparties, defined financing needs and credible implementation pathways.