Islamabad (GNP): Pakistan presented an investable project pipeline worth $4.85 billion to Chinese officials and business leaders during a high-level dialogue organized by the Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) Secretariat and the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), aimed at directing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) financing toward climate-resilient development in vulnerable countries.
The session, titled “Shared Future, Shared Prosperity: From Alignment to Amplification — Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs),” brought together senior officials, diplomats, business representatives, and climate-finance experts to discuss aligning country-owned Climate Prosperity Plans with Chinese finance, technology, and implementation support.
The timing is notable: it precedes the CVF-V20 delegation’s visit to the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2026 in Beijing by several weeks, and falls in the 75th anniversary year of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties.
Discussion centered on Pakistan’s own Climate Prosperity Plan, launched by the Ministry of Finance this past April. Its Investor Book — featuring 69 selected projects across eight priority sectors — was presented as a model for linking the BRI and the Green Investment and Finance Partnership (GIFP) with country-level climate plans.
IRS President Ambassador Jauhar Saleem opened the event by stressing the need to move from strategic alignment to actual implementation, saying, “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.”
Chinese Embassy Chargé d’affaires Shi Yuanqiang, speaking as guest of honor, pointed to growing opportunities for China-Pakistan cooperation on green development, saying Pakistan’s Climate Prosperity Plan offers companies — including Chinese firms — a clear path and significant market space for green investment, and affirmed that China has consistently stood with Pakistan on climate action.
PM’s Coordinator on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Romina Khurshid Alam credited CVF-V20 with helping Pakistan shift from climate ambition to actual implementation, noting that the Climate Prosperity Plan has given the country a pipeline connecting national priorities to investment, and described China as a natural partner given its technology, manufacturing capacity, and financing strength.
Sara Jane Ahmed, CVF-V20’s Managing Director and V20 Finance Advisor, said the opportunity extends beyond Pakistan to the broader V20 membership, arguing that as member countries build investable project pipelines, they create demand for technology, engineering, and manufacturing partnerships that China is well-positioned to supply — calling it the Secretariat’s job to make that market work both ways.
Hamza Haroon, CVF-V20’s Regional Director for West and South Asia, said vulnerable economies have never lacked ambition — only access to affordable finance and reliable partners.
He noted that with CPPs now launched across many V20 countries, those pipelines can be aligned with Chinese initiatives like BRI and GIFP, pointing to a COP30 announcement in which BRIGC and Brazil’s Development Bank agreed to align GIFP with Brazil’s own country platform as evidence the model already works in practice.
A panel moderated by CVF-V20 Program Lead Anam Rathor examined the current state of play between China and CVF-V20 countries, covering what’s needed to move projects from early interest to due diligence and execution — including project readiness, financing structures, CPEC 2.0 pathways, joint ventures, local manufacturing, and climate and carbon finance mechanisms.
Panelists included Ministry of Finance Joint Secretary for External Finance Nadeem Ahsan; former Pakistan Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi; China Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan Secretary-General Wu Dawei; CPEC Project Director Dr. Muzammil Zia; Pakistan China Commerce Alliance International Vice President Bilal Janjua; and CVF-V20 Senior Climate Finance Advisor Zulfiqar Younus.
Closing the session, Pakistan’s Ambassador-Designate to China, Dr. Syed Ali Asad Gillani, emphasized the importance of following through, saying he intends to make the embassy “a working door for the partnerships that begin here,” and adding that a shared future must be built rather than simply inherited.
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The dialogue is seen as the start of a broader effort. CVF-V20 will run a pavilion at CIFTIS 2026 — China’s largest services-sector trade fair — in Beijing from September 9–13, where member countries will pitch project pipelines and partnership models to Chinese institutions and investors, with the goal of advancing a smaller set of priority projects backed by clear partners, defined financing needs, and credible paths to implementation.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
